Eats, Shoots & Leaves: the zero tolerance approach to punctuation

Lynne Truss (author)

Profile Books, UK: 2003; 204pp

ISBN: 1861976127

Note: extension concepts, vocabulary

Genres: factual text, information text, non-fiction, English, language

This is definitely a book for those of us who are obsessive about punctuation and the way it is misused by so many in the English writing world. Were you, too, annoyed by the title of the film Two Weeks Notice, without the possessive apostrophe?

Do you, too, cringe at the sprinkling of unnecessary punctuation marks on advertisements for ‘CD's and Book's', or the regular use of the ‘greengrocer's apostrophe' for such things as ‘carrot's, leek's and lettuce'?

Then this is the book for you. Lynne Truss has written a book that is both a guide to correct punctuation and a dissertation on its uses and abuses by the general populous. What's more - it is funny. Very funny. Laugh-out-loud and share-it-with-others kind of funny.

At the same time Truss reassures those of us who are anally retentive about our grammar and punctuation that we are, in fact, the good guys. That punctuation has a purpose and should be preserved in a society where it is in a fair way to becoming endangered by the leave-it-out attitude encouraged by text messaging, email and the internet.

In a text that is a lively and skilful combination of the history of punctuation, clear explanations of the function of various punctuation marks, and many sad tales and true of public misuses of commas, apostrophes and semi-colons, Lynne Truss both educates and entertains her readers. Highly recommended, especially for those obsessive amongst us!