Lynne Truss
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation (2003)
Author: Lynne Truss
Genre: Nonfiction (History/Essay)
Book Summary:
Truss states the lesson readers should learn from her book is “there is never a dull moment in the world of punctuation” (125). She details the proper use of the apostrophe, comma, semicolon, colon, exclamation point, question mark, dashes, hyphens, quotation marks, and ellipsis in short enjoyable chapters. Each explanation is accompanied by a brief history of each mark, its purposes, and many humorous examples which illustrate the way punctuation can change the meaning of a sentence. Truss never allows her book to become a boring treatise on language. It is obvious that she is passionate about language and its proper usage, and she quotes all sorts of historical writers who feel the same way. All together, the book makes the case for preserving the system of punctuation in a world of instant communication.
Geographical Setting: Truss is British, but she also gives American examples and points out some differences between American punctuation versus Brittish.
Time Period: Present day. Although Truss looks at some historical examples
Appeal Characteristics:
The main appeal elements Truss has in her book are a humorus style, and connection with everyday people. Truss instructs without being overbearing. Normal people will relate to what she is saying about punctuation either because they have noticed it themselves, or they recognize the mistakes they have made by reading her examples. Truss doesn't spend too much time on each example, so the book does have a pretty fast pace. Her book invokes curiosity in the reader as they wonder if they have ever made the same mistakes, or they notice that they have seen the same errors in their own lives. This book is also useful as a practical reference for anyone who is a writer or would like to improve their grammar. Truss uses examples from her own life, so although there are no characters in her book, readers get a good look at what she is like as a person and can relate with her.
Read-alikes: If you liked the witty example and practical use of language in Eats, Shoots & Leaves you may also enjoy the witty examples of entimology found in Semantic Antics by Sol Steinmetz. Steinmetz looks at the semantics of everyday words and lets readers enjoy his examples of where words came from. If you would like to know better English Woe is I by Patricia T. O'Connor will, like Eats, Shoots & Leaves, invoke curiosity while also making you laugh because of it's humerous tone. This is a Grammarphobe's guide to better English and if you are a grammarphobe, you are sure to love it. If you like Lynn Truss' humous everyday style, you may also like another book by her. Her newest is Talk to the Hand. Instead of looking at everyday examples of punctuation, Truss looks at Manners. The same fast pace and humorous examples are used here too. If you like getting to know the author and enjoy the humor in Eats, Shoots & Leaves, you may want to check out a book titled Sand in My Bra and other Misadventures Edited by Jennifer L. Leo. This book invoves humerous travel stories from both famous people and everyday women. The Meaning of Tingo by Adam Jacot de Boinod is another book about words. Jacot looks at extraordinary words that don't wuite have an English counterpart. Jacot also has a humerous style and you get to know his
Red Flags: None—unless you consider punctuation jokes and puns a red flag!
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