Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference!

How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

And Relax (19/24 people found this helpful)

The drawings and sentences in this book complement each other incredibly well. I have several nieces and nephews, all under 8, and this year they shall all get this book. It is a charming and funny creation. I think it is a book that will stimulate the imagination, it does not say right from wrong, it is purely a fun book and should be read as such. I agree with the comments that it is not a page turner- it is a page stopper- giving time to take in the expresions and actions of the children in the drawings.
P.S.
I am from the lost generation that lacks punctuation training. A few words to all those who say it isn't important: students from state schools will never get jobs in law and media due to a lack of this skill. Punctation is essential in these fields, and students who get taught it in private schools will take those jobs. The class system is alive and well.

Where was this when I was at school? (7/9 people found this helpful)

I got this book for my kids and they're loving it! The pictures are really nice and colourful, which keeps their attention. I'm no grammar expert but hopefully my kids will be!

Eats, Shoots & Leaves - left me cold! (3/12 people found this helpful)

This book was really hyped and I thought that it would be really good. What it actually comes across as is a kind of Grumpy Old Men moan on about punctuation and after a while it just isn't funny any more.

For me this was a book that you would want to dip into ocasionally, it is certainly not a page turner!

Junior necessity? I'll say... (5/5 people found this helpful)

Having owned and read the adult version of this book, I must say, its younger brother is probably essential for children!

Although I do not currently own it, I've managed to obtain a preview. Thus, I can NOW state that I SHALL be buying it for my younger familiars.

*Dark laugh*

In all seriousness, it's a must for kids and can even prove helpful for adults (such as myself) who are tearfully struggling to dominate the pedantic world of punctuation.

I hope Lynne didn't hear me say that and if she did, 'twas but a joke!

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference!

Lynne Truss

Reader Reviews:

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way (0/0 people found this helpful)

And Relax (19/24 people found this helpful)

Where was this when I was at school? (7/9 people found this helpful)

Eats, Shoots & Leaves - left me cold! (3/12 people found this helpful)

Junior necessity? I'll say... (5/5 people found this helpful)

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