If you are looking for a book that simply tells you the rules of grammar then "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss isn't the best choice. If on the other hands what you really want is a book about why grammar is important and how it can effect language then this is a far better choice. And, if you read it carefully there is a fair amount about the way things should be done as well.

There are many books on grammar available and what makes this one rise above the crowd is that it is largely a book of stories about grammar more than rules. Even the title, "Eats, shoots and leaves" is the punch line to a joke.

Each of the chapters focuses on a different punctuation mark and shows examples of how it has been misused and why it is important to get it right. These chapters cover apostrophes, commas, colons, semicolons, exclamation marks and hyphens. Each starts with a story, from the childhood pen pal to a discussion of James Thurber. These stories help to make you feel both better about the inconsistencies that appear in grammar and make it far easier to understand why they exist.

One of the most interesting stories that weaves through the book is that of typesetting and how it has effected modern writing and by understanding the reasons for the rules better you are able to soon begin to pick up the rules themselves without having to have them explained and this is far more useful than any memorization.

If you aren't already good with grammar this probably isn't the best book to choose and I wouldn't suggest replacing any school textbooks with this. As an addition to your library and a reminder of why grammar is important this book is one of the best you will find helping you to understand not only how to use grammar, but why it should be used that way.

It is worth recognizing that this book was written by a British author, and there are a few places where the rules of British and America grammar don't match up. Many of these have been noted and adjusted for the American release but you need to keep that in mind as well as making certain that you buy the correct version.

This is one of the best supplementary grammar books available. "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" won't teach you everything you need to know about grammar, but it will make you care more about grammar and in the long run the desire to use grammar correctly is far more useful than simply memorizing rules and learning why those rules exist will help you remember them far easier as well.

Learn more about this author, Elton Gahr.
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