Nonfiction: Language: Eats, Shoots & Leaves

THE BARE FACTS
Title: Eats, Shoots & Leaves; The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Author: Lynne Truss
Publisher: Gotham
Date of Publication: 2003
Pages: 209
Grade That Means Nothing Coming From Me: A

SO BASICALLY, IT’S ABOUT…The casual disregard for proper punctuation that plagues the English language, its ramifications, and the reason why complaining about it is worthwhile.

WHY’D YOU WANNA READ THAT?
Advance buzz was good, Padraic Connelly gave it a ringing endorsement, and there it was on my mother’s bookshelf at Christmas.

AND HOW’D THAT WORK OUT FOR YOU?
A book like this is simultaneously refreshing and frustrating. Consider that the author rallies her readers around the cry, “Sticklers Unite!” It is a clarion call for people to enforce the rules wherever they see them callously flouted. I’m a stickler, so it’s nice to have the support. On the other hand, I’m a stickler, which makes the apostrophe-abusing populace brand me as a deluded fool, so it’s disappointing to think that I’m decidedly in the minority.

Truss provides a very thorough analysis of the history of each punctuation mark. Yes, each punctuation mark has a history; sometimes a very intricate one. For example, it has always been my habit to include a final comma in any lengthy list (e.g. baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet). It turns out that there is a name for this: an Oxford comma. Who knew?

Along with such items as the ethnography of the parenthesis (which the British evidently call “round brackets”, so you can lord that over them the next time they call us uncouth), Truss provides plenty of helpful explanations as to how each mark is properly used. It’s far clearer than any grammar book you had in school, and much more entertaining.

What must be said is that most books state a problem, go into great detail about the woes that will ensue if the problem is unchecked, and then spend precious little time dealing with the solution. In Truss’ favor, she sets up the problem, then spends the bulk of the book promoting solutions, and finally does us the favor of explaining just why we should give a damn. By that time, we do.

SHOULD I READ THIS?
Ideally, everyone who ever attempts to write down the English language will read this, learn from their mistakes, and go forward with a new-found appreciation for the important role that punctuation plays in conveying human thought. So if that includes you, I will recommend the book. Alas, there is not much hope that this will actually happen, so the potential readership falls into two categories. In the first, those who know the rules (or most of them) and wish to see them utilized. They should read this book for reinforcement of the righteousness of their cause. In the other, the people who don’t care at all and think that proper punctuation is a waste of time. They should read this book because they might learn something, and that will save us the trouble of having them shot.

INCIDENTALLY...
I have gone over this particular review with a fine-toothed comb to make sure that no errors of punctuation slipped in to embarrass me thoroughly. Nonetheless, there may still be a mistake in here, and I expect to be corrected, because anyone who wants to call me out is someone I will consider part of the happy band of sticklers.

Shane Wilson is a writer and contributing editor to The Greenroom .