BOOKS: Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Panda eating shoots thinking about grammar.

A sign in front of a car dealer says: “Car’s Van’s 4x4’s,” another in front of a burger emporium: “Burger’s while you wait,” another sign: “Car’s Parked at Owners Risk,” and then a striking nasty on the front page of the New York Times: “In the first half of the 1990’s she was Mr. Mitterrand’s lead aide on international issues.” Can anyone use an apostrophe correctly anymore? One more: “Four Season’s Nudist Colony.” Apparently grammar is the last thing on the mind of these nude patrons. Are you a “stickler?” Lynne Truss is. Hmm better watch my grammar. If British journalist Lynne Truss had her way all grammatical offenders would be thrown into hell. Truss, author of the number one bestseller in the UK, “Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation,” suffers in her words from:” a ghastly emotional process similar to the stages of bereavement,” when she sees improper punctuation. Sound a little strong? Well it’s all done in good humor with a bit of wit and urbanity thrown into the mix. This is a fun book to read. Yes a grammar book, and one that won “Britain’s Book of the Year Award.” And yes I’m aware of my own grammar sins; my word processor underlines them in green for me. But sometimes I just feel like being bad. Truss would not tolerate any gratuitous badness. She says: “It’s tough being a “stickler on punctuation these days. One dare not get up in the morning.” So pervasive is bad grammar that the “stickler’s exquisite sensibilities are assaulted from all sides, causing feelings of panic and isolation…”Everywhere one looks, there are signs of ignorance and indifference.” And what makes it worse?“ that the world cares nothing for the little shocks endured by the stickler.” In “Eats, Shoots & Leaves,” all this grammatical fuss is overseen by a large overwrought panda who is capable of firing a gun into the air when he sees poor punctuation. That would straighten things up! Truss’s approach to grammar falls between the prescriptive and descriptive schools. She chooses the middle path and takes the light-hearted approach. So if you can take your grammatical medicine with a dose of cheer and a smattering of “Britishisms,” this is the grammar book for you. Even better still is the new illustrated edition by New Yorker cartoonist Pat Byrnes who draws the panda in all his grammatical fury.