Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Softcover

Truss, Lynne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007861931 ISBN 13: 9780007861934

Publisher: Fourth Estate, 2009

Synopsis

'If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I'd nominate her for sainthood.' Frank McCourt

The international bestseller, reissued and with a new introduction. A witty, entertaining, impassioned guide to perfect punctuation, for everyone who cares about precise writing. When social histories come to be written of the first decade of the 21st century, people will note a turning point in 2003 when declining standards of punctuation were reversed. Linguists will record Lynne Truss as the saviour of the semi-colon and the avenging angel of the apostrophe.

'This book will stimulate and satisfy. It's worth its weight in gold.' Boyd Tonkin, Independent

'A witty, elegant and passionate book that should be on every writer's shelf.' Observer

'Lynne Truss deserves to be piled high with honours.' John Humphrys

'It can only be a matter of time before the new government seizes the chance to appoint her as minister for punctuation. The manifesto is already written.' Guardian

'She's a soul sister. She's one of us.' Richard Madeley

About this title

Review:

A wonderfully readable little treatise on the uses and misuses of punctuation...witty and entertaining as well as informative. (Terry Eagleton Irish Times)

There are plenty of laughs in this book...but this is more than a witty, elegant and passionate book that should be on every writer's shelf...Lynne Truss's book is as much an argument for clear thinking as it is a pedantic defence of obsolete conventions of written language. Well. Done. Lynne!!!!!!! (Nigel Williams Observer Review)

Three cheers for Lynne Truss, the extremely droll sports-writer and comic novelist, whose book Eats, Shoots & Leaves makes the history of punctuation a subject at once urgent, sexy and hilarious...Her book is a joyous call to arms for grammatical sticklers everywhere, and I have signed up with delight (John Walsh Independent)

Eats, Shoots & Leaves has been a surprise UK bestseller. Every company meeting should begin with a reading from it, followed by a prayer of thanks for its existence (Michael Skapinker Financial Times)

[A] witty, clear-headed and altogether enchanting book ... It makes you love punctuation; you want to conserve what is still left and perhaps even call for more of it ... Reading this book put me in such a good mood that I came close to forgiving the people who use that modern punctuation atrocity, the "forward slash". (Oliver Pritchett Sunday Telegraph)

This book will stimulate and satisfy. It's worth it's weight in gold. (Boyd Tonkin The Independent)

It can only be a matter of time before the new government seizes the chance to appoint her [Lynne Truss] as minister for punctuation. The manifesto is already written. (The Guardian)

If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I'd nominate her for sainthood. As it is, thousands of English teachers from Maine to Maui will be calling down blessings on her merry, learned head for her book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It's a book about punctuation, the poor stepchild of mean old grammar.Punctuation, if you don't mind! The book is so spirited, so scholarly, so seductive, English teachers will sweep aside all other topics to get to, you guessed it, punctuation. Parents and children gather by the fire on chilly evenings to read passages on the history of the semi-colon and the much-maligned dash. Make way for the new Cinderella of the English language, Punctuation Herself! (Frank McCourt)

Ms Truss has had enough; to judge from the huge sales this book has had in its first few weeks, she has unearthed a vast army of supporters...If you have not done so already, buy a copy of this book, read it, absorb its message, then give it to a sub-literate friend or colleague for Christmas. (Beachcomber Daily Express)

Lovers of good English have thought of ourselves as isolated outposts...Lynne Truss has emerged as our champion. (William Hartson Daily Express)

Lynne Truss has written a funny and apposite book. (Mary Kenny Irish Independent)

This is a tremendous book: funny, acute, clear and exactly what I need. (Henry Porter)

This book is brilliant. I laughed, I howled, and I immediately wanted to join the Militant wing of the Apostrophe Society. This is great stuff: genuine, heartfelt, and rousing. Buy it for any reader you know - you will delight them. (Jenny Colgan)

The most charming, entertaining reflections on punctuation I have ever read...Rattling amusingly across the mine-studded plains of English communication, from dashes to question marks to colons and commas, Truss's mischievous wit and memorable anecdotes are hugely refreshing. (Rosemary Goring Glasgow Herald)

Lynne Truss is jolly good fun, or at least her book is. This is a book you could just as easily give to a venerable uncle who is a stickler for semicolons or an ignorant whippersnapper with an English GCSE on the horizon. It is both practical and colourful. Read the book, you'll get the (full) point. (Sarah Vine Times)

Lynne Truss deserves to be piled high with honours... she feels a genuine affection for those little full stops and commas, colons and semi-colons. She wants them protected rather than revered, respected rather than worshipped, for the vital job they do. I think she probably understates her case when she argues that people who persist in writing "Good food at it's best" deserve to be "struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave". Lightning strikes are altogether too random. There should be a government task force with the single duty of rooting out such barbarians and burning them at the stake. Happily, Truss is a funny writer and she has an eye for the grotesque. (John Humphrys Sunday Times)

If Lynne Truss were Roman Catholic I'd nominate her for sainthood. As it is, thousands of English teachers from Maine to Maui will be calling down blessings on her merry, learned head for her book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It's a book about punctuation, the poor stepchild of mean old grammar.
Punctuation, if you don't mind! The book is so spirited, so scholarly, so seductive, English teachers will sweep aside all other topics to get to, you guessed it, punctuation. Parents and children gather by the fire on chilly evenings to read passages on the history of the semi-colon and the much-maligned dash. Make way for the new Cinderella of the English language, Punctuation Herself!

(Frank McCourt author of Angela's Ashes and Tis)

From the Publisher:

Now out in paperback with a free Punctuation Repair Kit in every copy. Sticklers, please use your stickers responsibly, correctly and legally. This international bestseller, with over three million copies sold worldwide, is fast becoming a modern classic. Eats Shoots & Leaves can be read as a tale from beginning to end and used as a reference guide in moments of confusion. Be prepared to laugh out loud.

About this edition

• Publisher: Fourth Estate
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0007861931
• ISBN 13: 9780007861934
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 244