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

Eats, Shoots & Leaves is a hilarious, heartfelt, and at times long-suffering love letter to punctuation. Lynn Truss had me laughing out loud and re-reading bits of text to myself—no small feat given that I read the book in the midst of a pandemic. Truss is not content to simply bemoan the fact that standards of punctuation today are abysmal; she attempts to help readers understand and appreciate the beauty of punctuation. She passionately argues that punctuation is not a set of dusty rules for fusspots, but rather a system that clarifies the meaning of the written word.

Consider the difference between:

A woman, without her man, is nothing
A woman: without her, man is nothing

Or take hyphens, which were apparently hated by both Churchill and Woodrow Wilson. As the author notes, the difference between extra-marital sex and extra marital sex is a rather important one—at least for the individuals involved.

But wait, there’s more! Punctuation is not just about rules—it’s an art form. Like notations in music that direct you how to play, punctuation helps the reader know when to pause, what text is being emphasized, and the flow of language. In fact, punctuation was first invented by the ancient Greeks to mark when actors should pause during dialogue. Standard punctuation became important with the rise of printed books meant to be read silently. Truss is endearing as she fangirls over the obscure Venetian family of printers who helped set these standards during the Renaissance.

I adored the author’s dry wit and grandiose writing, although I recognize that her style will not be everyone’s cup of tea. She shares her thoughts on a poorly punctuated road sign in this gem of a paragraph:

“Children drive slowly.” Evidently, this sign—inadvertently descriptive of the disappointing road speeds attainable by infants at the wheel—was eventually altered (but sadly not improved) by the addition of a comma, becoming “Children, drive slowly.” A kindly exhortation, perhaps, which might even save lives among those self-same reckless juvenile drivers; but still not quite what the writer really had in mind.

Despite the book’s subtitle and her sly comments about sticklers, Truss does not really have a zero-tolerance approach to punctuation. Some reviewers who disliked the book found her elitist or arrogant, but to me it was clear that she was gently mocking herself and her fellow sticklers, while still expressing her belief that everyone can and should master punctuation.

Some of the funniest sections of the book are the various literary battles over punctuation. George Bernard Shaw, who never used one semi-colon when three would do, wrote a series of scathing letters to T.E. Lawrence taking him to task for his punctuation:

"You practically do not use semicolons at all. This is a symptom of mental defectiveness, probably induced by camp life. As you have no rules, and sometimes throw colons about with an unhinged mind, here are some rules for you."

The last chapter briefly explores punctuation in the digital age. Truss notes that an increasing number of people are sharing their written thoughts online, yet fewer and fewer people bother to learn punctuation. Speed is often valued over quality or clarity. Truss worries that rather than reading, writing, and arithmetic, children in the future will learn reading, sending, and arithmetic. I think that’s alarmist, but it is concerning to see so many people dismissing punctuation and metaphorically shrugging their shoulders when confronted with errors.

The book covers the entire history of punctuation and the rules for usage in just 228 pages. Memorizing so many rules felt overwhelming to me at times, especially since most punctuation marks have multiple purposes and there are stylistic gray areas. Even after finishing the book, I admit that I am a bit woolly on some of the rules. So I would not recommend this book as a starting primer for teens or beginning ESL learners. But for people who revere language and/or want to clarify some of the finer points of punctuation, this book is completely delightful.

I apologize, in advance, for any punctuation errors in this review.