Kathrynn's Reviews > Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation

I thoroughly enjoyed this short, funny book about British punctuation. The author had a wonderful sense of humor and used it throughout the book. This was a quick read, with sections on the:

1. Apostrophe
2. Comma
3. Quotation Marks (single and double)
(Now I understand why I see punctuation in and outside of quotation marks; British place outside while the American custom place inside.)
4. Colon, Semicolon and Interjections
5. Dash, Exclamation, Question, Italics, Underlining...
6. Hyphen
7. Emoticons and other stuff
(The author does not think too highly of using emoticons. She indicates such use shows poor word usage to convey meaning; therefore, needing to supplement with an emoticon.) Uh-oh. ;-)

Each chapter opens with a brief history, current practice in both American and British cultures and some include debates from various groups on correctness. All have humor and examples of right and wrong usage.

I have to share this letter. It is on pages 9 & 10 and is the same letter, but the punctuation is placed differently; thus, altering the meaning--drastically. Check it out:

Letter #1

"Dear Jack,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy - will you let me be yours?
Jill

Letter #2
Dear Jack,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Jill"