A few days ago, I finished reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. The book self-describes itself as “The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation”, and it sure is. This woman is very passionate about punctuation.
I first knew about this book when Newsweek reviewed it upon its release, and I’ve been wanting to get it ever since.
What caught me is this funny little story on the back of the book:
“I’m a panda,” he says at the door. “Look it up.”
The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.
“Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”
So, punctuation does really does matter, even if it is only occasionally a matter of life and death.
I’ve always wanted a handy book about punctuation to keep as reference, as I sometimes do find myself in situations when I’m not too sure what do with it all. This book does a really good job at showing you how important punctuation is, as well as giving you all the golden rules on how, where and when to use it.
My score for this book would be: 8/10.
(PS: I’m gonna start rating everything from books, to movies, to music cds, to places …etc.)
i put my hand on it several times yet i never bought it. i may do that at last.
LOOL! That’s awesome! I totally “connect” with that lady… I’m a punctuation FREAK! I hate bad punctuation.
Jameed, I found it pretty worth buying, especially if you find yourself in situations where you’re not too sure what you’re supposed to do with it all.
Roba, really?
I didn’t know you were that passionate about punctuation.
I mean, I hate bad punctuation myself, especially when I sometimes feel that my punctuation could be better in something I wrote, but I wouldn’t go as far as being a punctuation freak.