Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne Truss

I'm not very good at punctuation or grammar in general. Anyone who has read my blog for any period of time has probably figured this out. It's a shortcoming that I'd like to correct, but am not particularly motivated to try to fix. Perhaps I should. At any rate, despite my utter dislike of rules relating in any way, shape or form to grammar, I thought I'd give this book a try. After all, "everyone has read it."

I thought this book was utterly delightful and entertaining. Whether I learned anything or not is beside the point. Of course, I realize that was the point - oh well. Ms. Truss' sense of humor (dry and British) spills out on every page. She makes it sound cool to fixate on punctuation errors - glaring and otherwise. (By the way, I would prefer if commenters to this post did not try to pick apart my use of commas, etc. I am well aware that I have a long way to go in this area.) She even inspired me to want to use the semicolon - correctly! I'm working on it.

After reading this book, I am very anxious to get my hands on a copy of Truss' other book, Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door. It sounds like something I would like.

I would encourage anyone who loves punctuation or who wishes they did to pick up a copy of Eats, Shoots & Leaves. I can't imagine that you would regret it.