I vividly remember standing in a bookshop in London in 2003 as a teenager, considering buying this and then not doing so because I wanted to spend the money on records instead. Good choice, teenage me! I got this from a charity shop instead (so many of charity shops in the Midlands!), for a pound, and that was about what the reading experience as worth for me.

The topic, punctuation, is right up my alley. And I did enjoy the content, even though I found it a bit superficial. I liked the parts about colons and semicolons best; I think they're both underused. What I didn't like was the style of the book. I know it's supposed to be a little bit humorous, at least I hope that's the intention, because otherwise the smugness on the pages is even worse. It was strangely aggressive, and I kept thinking: Look, I'm on your side here - punctuation is fascinating and important. I guess I just don't understand the 'crusader' approach to language.

Sanctimonious prudery that doesn't even get everything right, smartly gutted by Louis Menand in a withering New Yorker review. Meh.

n  “Naturally, therefore, this is where the colon and semicolon waltz in together, to a big cheer from all the writers in the audience. Just look at those glamorous punctuation marks twirling in the lights from the glitter-ball: are they not beautiful? Are they not graceful?”n

This is a book that tackles punctuation rules and some of their historical origins (those parts I liked the most) in a humorous way. It brings up important topics such as: the Apostrophe Protection Society, religious doctrines that hang on the placement of a comma, the endangered yet strangely addictive semicolons (I had no idea the semicolon elicited such strong reactions from people), exclamation mark ghosts, and hyphen abolitionists. It's a bit long-winded in some parts, and the humor didn't always land for me, but I still enjoyed reading it.

Then there's the epilogue. I don't think events leading up to 2003 were so dire that they'd warrant these types of concerns:
n  “We hear every day that the book is dead and that even the dimmest child can find “anything” on the internet.”n
I can understand her worries about punctuation to some extent, though. Especially looking at so many books being published the way they are: as if no one's editing them beyond checking for typos.

n  “George Orwell tried to avoid the semicolon completely in Coming Up for Air (1939), telling his editor in 1947, 'I had decided about this time that the semicolon is an unnecessary stop and that I would write my next book without one.'”n
How dystopian of you, Orwell.

In between the ableist, classist, elitist, overwhelmingly gross prescriptivism, there are actually a lot of fascinating insights about punctuation in this short, impassioned bestseller. I knew this book would make me mad in the ways that it did, but I'm still glad that I read it because (a) everyone else has read it and (b) I do actually REALLY LIKE punctuation and the parts that weren't insulting people who "misuse" it or bemoaning the impending punctuation apocalypse were indeed quite interesting.

This is a humourous take on usage and grammar. I found it interesting.
(And I loaned it to someone and never got it back! -- I do know they liked it too....)

This book is a witty rant about the use and misuse of punctuation. It has a very high feel good factor. We, the readers, of course know how to use apostrophes correctly, and that writing littered with exclamation marks infers a feeble mind. We know subconsciously, even if not via overt rules, how to use hyphens. We pat pat pat ourselves on the back with being so in accord with this funny woman and her nit-picking usage of grammar.

Ahhhh, except this is the nub of the thing. Lynne Truss in this book deals only with punctuation - that thin layer of tasty icing on top of the vast, dense, impenetrable cake that is grammar. Reading Eats Shoots & Leaves does not maketh a grammarian of us, but merely a punctuator. Something that most kids do with reasonable efficiency by about the age of 11. Maybe I am being a bit harsh. Ms Truss mentions several famous authors who have tussled with nuances of punctuation, often with ferocity, and there is a bibliography at the end which is over four pages long. Still I can’t help thinking this is the easy-peasy edge of grammar, and really, she is giving us a very cushy ride.

Reservations aside, this is an enjoyable book. Ms Truss writes in an endearingly chatty style, and she’s a very amusing woman. I also learnt a thing or two. For me, best of all, was an introduction to the Oxford comma. This is when you are allowed to put a comma before an ‘and’ when making a list in a sentence. Thus….“The fruit salad, of oranges, apples, guavas and tenderly-ripened bananas” is replaced by “The fruit salad, of oranges, apples, guavas, and tenderly-ripened bananas”. Oh hooray, hooray! I always wanted to insert that last comma, but thought it was forbidden. Other people will undoubtedly find their own unexpected freedoms. For all her huffiness, Ms Truss is a surprisingly generous mentor.

All in all this book is a good fun read. The average rating on GR - a nice plump 3.83, from 50,719 people - says it all.

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Note: And for those of us who flail around in the gooey morass of more difficult areas of grammar, help is at hand via this wonderful Goodreads group.

Language and Grammar

Grammar is very important. I genuinely believe that. As someone who adores the aesthetics of the written word -- choosing between a dash or parentheses makes every difference. I get irritated about incorrectly-punctuated academic work --- but oh god, creatively speaking, sometimes commas in the place of semi-colons or periods can be goddamn beautiful --------- and if you start a sentence with "And", I am liable to be putty in your pages.

This book is a light-hearted and informative take on grammar as a changing entity. Some parts legit made me bark out a laugh or two; others I skimmed. But now I'm questioning every punctuation mark in every sentence I'm writing and it's really annoying me and you know what? Sometimes it's nice to just let words flow. Grammar should help, not hinder, as Truss suggests -- and she ultimately suggests it very well. I think I just..wasn't....in the mood for a grammar book.

HAVE YOU NOTICED I'M PUNCTUATING COMPLETELY WRONG RIGHT NOW UGH WHAT DID THIS BOOK DO TO ME I'M SO INSECURE

Anyway. Back I go to overusing the exclamation point in my e-mails and texts.

Edutaining and fun.

My dear fellow sticklers, please be kind and try not to judge my use of punctuation too harshly!

What a fun, instructive little book this is! If only school books were this amusing and entertaining, I'm sure children would appreciate "boring" subjects such as punctuation and grammar much more. This really is a terrific little book: I enjoyed the author's sense of humour very much and found myself laughing out loud several times as I read.

Even though I found all chapters equally fun and interesting, I think the one I enjoyed most is the one about the apostrophe and its many misuses. I learned many things about the proper use of punctuation in this book but what surprised me most is the difference between the hyphen and the dash, which I had no idea existed. I knew about the dash of course, but didn't really know what the hyphen was or what it was used for. What actually surprised me is that they are considered two very different things in English, whereas in French we use the same word ("tiret") and punctuation sign for both.

A great read!

When was the last time you read a book where you could literally say, "This book has changed my life." Eat, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss is one such book.

At first I thought a zero tolerance approach to punctuation sounded a bit extreme. That is until Truss mentioned one of my favorite movies ("Two Weeks Notice"), pointing out that the title should be "Two Weeks' Notice". I was shocked. I had always assumed an apostrophe was there. Then I started listening to The Plain White T's, a band whose name makes no sense with an apostrophe, and I knew things were getting serious.

Nonetheless I will admit that it was a challenge reading the chapters about the apostrophe and the comma (although I have learned a few knew tricks for commas). Then I came to a chapter entitled "Airs and Graces." From there onward, the book was a revelation.

I learned my punctuation from my mom and copious reading. I still have a hard time explaining dependent clauses and why it is appropriate to use "well" instead of "good" even though I can tell when a sentence is complete/written correctly if I can read it. I am sharing this background so that when I say Truss explains all of the punctuation rules presented in her book you will know I mean really clear.

Truss has illustrated that there is a time and place for the dash and double-dash in all good literature. She has also shown that, to avoid over-using the dash, a colon can easily replace a dash in certain situations. I never knew that!

What's nice about Eats, Shoots and Leaves is that it's not a dry read. Yes, Truss is talking about punctuation. Yes, she is deadly serious about it. But she maintains a sense of humor throughout: including witty examples and poking fun at punctuation (and punctuation sticklers) as much as she explains it. In addition, Truss includes abundant historical information about the punctuation marks she discusses ranging from the first names for parentheses to the first appearance of an apostrophe in printed documents.

I would recommend this book highly to anyone with an interest in writing. Even if you know the basics, Truss has a few tricks up her sleeve that are sure to give your writing a little extra flair.

You can find this review and more on my blog Miss Print

Get your punctuation right! Hilarious exposé of unintended humour emanating from sloppy and ignorant placement of commas, semicolons, and full stops. Truss at her best!

n  Eats, Shoots & Leavesn is a hilarious, heartfelt, and at times long-suffering love letter to punctuation. Lynn Truss had me laughing out loud and re-reading bits of text to myself—no small feat given that I read the book in the midst of a pandemic. Truss is not content to simply bemoan the fact that standards of punctuation today are abysmal; she attempts to help readers understand and appreciate the beauty of punctuation. She passionately argues that punctuation is not a set of dusty rules for fusspots, but rather a system that clarifies the meaning of the written word.

Consider the difference between:

A woman, without her man, is nothing
A woman: without her, man is nothing

Or take hyphens, which were apparently hated by both Churchill and Woodrow Wilson. As the author notes, the difference between extra-marital sex and extra marital sex is a rather important one—at least for the individuals involved.

But wait, there’s more! Punctuation is not just about rules—it’s an art form. Like notations in music that direct you how to play, punctuation helps the reader know when to pause, what text is being emphasized, and the flow of language. In fact, punctuation was first invented by the ancient Greeks to mark when actors should pause during dialogue. Standard punctuation became important with the rise of printed books meant to be read silently. Truss is endearing as she fangirls over the obscure Venetian family of printers who helped set these standards during the Renaissance.

I adored the author’s dry wit and grandiose writing, although I recognize that her style will not be everyone’s cup of tea. She shares her thoughts on a poorly punctuated road sign in this gem of a paragraph:

“Children drive slowly.” Evidently, this sign—inadvertently descriptive of the disappointing road speeds attainable by infants at the wheel—was eventually altered (but sadly not improved) by the addition of a comma, becoming “Children, drive slowly.” A kindly exhortation, perhaps, which might even save lives among those self-same reckless juvenile drivers; but still not quite what the writer really had in mind.

Despite the book’s subtitle and her sly comments about sticklers, Truss does not really have a zero-tolerance approach to punctuation. Some reviewers who disliked the book found her elitist or arrogant, but to me it was clear that she was gently mocking herself and her fellow sticklers, while still expressing her belief that everyone can and should master punctuation.

Some of the funniest sections of the book are the various literary battles over punctuation. George Bernard Shaw, who never used one semi-colon when three would do, wrote a series of scathing letters to T.E. Lawrence taking him to task for his punctuation:

"You practically do not use semicolons at all. This is a symptom of mental defectiveness, probably induced by camp life. As you have no rules, and sometimes throw colons about with an unhinged mind, here are some rules for you."

The last chapter briefly explores punctuation in the digital age. Truss notes that an increasing number of people are sharing their written thoughts online, yet fewer and fewer people bother to learn punctuation. Speed is often valued over quality or clarity. Truss worries that rather than reading, writing, and arithmetic, children in the future will learn reading, sending, and arithmetic. I think that’s alarmist, but it is concerning to see so many people dismissing punctuation and metaphorically shrugging their shoulders when confronted with errors.

The book covers the entire history of punctuation and the rules for usage in just 228 pages. Memorizing so many rules felt overwhelming to me at times, especially since most punctuation marks have multiple purposes and there are stylistic gray areas. Even after finishing the book, I admit that I am a bit woolly on some of the rules. So I would not recommend this book as a starting primer for teens or beginning ESL learners. But for people who revere language and/or want to clarify some of the finer points of punctuation, this book is completely delightful.

I apologize, in advance, for any punctuation errors in this review.