general

"Eats, Shoots & Leaves" is not a grammar guide per se, as it doesn't really teach the basics of punctuation. Instead, it's a grammarians dream come true - an enjoyable and illuminating discussion of the history and importance of punctuation (Hmmmm, did I use that dash correctly?). Lovers of punctuation have been decrying the use of "netspeak" with no or minimal punctuation. Accordingly, Truss wrote this engaging book with the rallying cry: "Sticklers unite!" However, Truss does not simply attack the web; indeed, she asserts that text messaging and email have made reading more important than it has been of late. However, to paraphrase Bill Clinton, "It's the punctuation stupid!"

Truss's dry British wit (e.g., talking about wanting to marry the inventor of the colon) is used to great effect in her writing. And amusing vignettes are peppered through the text, including the introduction of the "interrobang" as well as the spread of the "Strukenwhite" virus. She even manages to make punctuation seem, well, sexy. If you've ever found yourself in a spirited debate about the Oxford comma (i.e., the second comma in the phrase "red, white, and blue"), then you'll likely enjoy this book.

Some reviewers have asserted that American readers may be a bit lost; however, Truss is careful about pointing out American versus British punctuation uses. I was never confused. Overall, this book is delightful - most highly recommended.

"Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" by Lynne Truss entertained me. I learned a few things, too.

Truss takes to task the errant punctuation found through common language. She even finds problems in Amazon.com reviews. I cannot disagree; my own reviews are littered with errors. She cites a review of Hugh Grant's movie "About a Boy". The reviewer, like so many of us, did not proofread his work, and left his shame available in review form.

While claiming not to be about class distinction, in the British sense George Bernard Shaw meant to reduce in "Pygmalion," she still comes across as arrogant. There is no way to avoid this poise of authoritative injunction. Punctuation is a perfect science with imperfect applications. We readers tolerate (or completely miss) errors because we understand both the message and the messenger.

Truss' examples are humorous. Her writing is bright, with all British overtones. These overtones were resident in the original English edition, and the copy published in America is verbatim. It works to highlight the accidents of poor punctuation pervasively nicking our writing. By selectively altering a comma here and there, she shows how meaning is sometimes entirely changed. That's good to remember.

She is clear in the beginning to say this is not a grammar book. Grammar is not punctuation, she correctly says. However, she misleads the reader into believing this is a punctuation book. It's not. It is about punctuation, with many stories, anecdotes, tales and lessons teaching proper punctuation. The book never closes in on being purely a list of 'dos and don'ts'. It is valuable for that, especially as her style welcomes the reader more than the standard reference book on the topic. She encompasses punctuation as the basis for her book, but Truss never lets the method arrest its entertainment value.

Intelligent readers for whom the use of language matters will indubitably learn something.

Throughout are citings of the kinds of punctuation mistakes forwarded in e-mails by editors to their friends.

This book is a primer, at best, but completely incomplete. We are taught quickies in the usage of apostrophes, commas, colons, ellipses, semicolons, dashes and, in her estimation, the rarely used hyphen.

Who should read "Eats, Shoots & Leaves"? Smug freshman copyediting students and their pretentious high school counterparts, full-time professional editors who need to remember they are not alone, anyone who makes a living joining letters on a page, and junior high school English teachers who need never forget that even their best efforts will not teach every student. Most of all, as I'm confident Truss would agree, amateur book reviewers like myself should read this; we could learn the proper use of a semicolon.

I fully recommend "Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation" by Lynne Truss. It will not replace your AP, Chicago, MLA or APA stylebooks, but it will add to your enjoyment of their much-needed use.

Anthony Trendl

For a long time, I hid my sickness. I only talked about it to close friends, people who wouldn't judge me. I thought I was the only person who cringed each time I saw "your" when it should have been "you're" or wanted to rewrite entire Amazon.com reviews because of atrocious spelling and/or punctuation. Now I know that I'm not alone; in fact, I'm in good company. This book does the unthinkable. It takes both a humorous and an educational look at the often overlooked (and undertaught) world of punctuation. I actually found myself laughing out loud at parts of this book. That could be because I'm an English teacher, but I like to think it's because Lynne Truss is a funny lady and this is one funny book. The next time I'm about to pull my hair out while teaching apostrophes to eighth-graders, I'll pull out this book and have a good laugh. Lord knows I'll need it.