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1 Burnside Reference- Grammar and Style

This title in other formats:

Comma Sense: A Fundamental Guide to Punctuation

by Richard Lederer

Comma Sense: A Fundamental Guide to Punctuation Cover

ISBN13: 9780312342548
ISBN10: 0312342543
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

“Of my 465 books on punctuation---I've read them all---Comma Sense is the wisest and funniest. It's the only one you really need.”

---Bryan A. Garner, author of Garner's Modern American Usage

“A thorough field guide to the pesky little critters of the punctuation forest.

Lederer and Shore hit the marks!”

---Bill Walsh, author of The Elephants of Style

“Who else would call the exclamation point 'this titan of tingle, this prince of palpitation'? Who else would call the apostrophe the Jesse James of punctuation? Who else would compare the dash to Fred Astaire, the semicolon to Duke Ellington, and parentheses (yes, my darlings) to Louella Parsons? It can only be Richard Lederer, Viceroy of Verbivores, and his trusty sidekick, John Shore.”

---Patricia T. O'Conner, author of Woe Is I

“Punctuation needn't be perplexing or painful, as Richard Lederer and John Shore make abundantly clear. Comma Sense is full of easy-to-understand guidance for the grammatically challenged---and loads of laughs besides!”

--- Martha Barnette, author of Dog Days and Dandelions

“If America had ‘Living National Treasures,’ the way Japan and Korea do, Richard Lederer would be one.”

---Barbara Wallraff, author of Your Own Words

Review:

"Lederer has long been one of America's most popular experts on language and grammar, but here he seems to be taking his cue from Lynn Truss in focusing on the ins and outs of commas, semi-colons and the other little dots and dashes that punctuate our writing. Lederer, with writer and editor Shore, tries a bit too hard to convince readers of the importance of good punctuation ('Good punctuation makes for a good life') and to make the whole business amusing (the period is 'a mark so dinky that farsighted fleas court it'); disquisitions on Seabiscuit and Albert Einstein's hair are distractions rather than entertainments. And all the talk of how the apostrophe is like Jesse James explains less than Lederer's straightforward usage examples, such as the serious differences in meaning between these two sentences: 'The butler stood in the doorway and called the guests names'; 'The butler stood in the doorway and called the guests' names.' Yes, punctuation is important, and the bold-face print for basic rules does make this an easy-to-use guide for the punctuationally perplexed." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

Are you confounded by commas, addled by apostrophes, or queasy about quotation marks? Do you believe a bracket is just a support for a wall shelf, a dash is something you make for the bathroom, and a colon and semicolon are large and small intestines? If so, language humorists Richard Lederer and John Shore (with the sprightly aid of illustrator Jim McLean), have written the perfect book to help make your written words perfectly precise and punctuationally profound.

Don’t expect Comma Sense to be a dry, academic tome. On the contrary, the authors show how each mark of punctuation—no matter how seemingly arcane—can be effortlessly associated with a great American icon: the underrated yet powerful period with Seabiscuit; the jazzy semicolon with Duke Ellington; even the rebel apostrophe with famed outlaw Jesse James. But this book is way more than a flight of whimsy. When you’ve finished Comma Sense, you’ll not only have mastered everything you need to know about punctuation through Lederer and Shore’s simple, clear, and right-on-the-mark rules, you’ll have had fun doing so. When you’re done laughing and learning, you’ll be a veritable punctuation whiz, ready to make your marks accurately, sensitively, and effectively.

Synopsis:

Fans of "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" will delight in this collection from one ofAmerica's favorite grammarians. 15 illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN:
9780312342548
Subtitle:
A Fundamental Guide to Punctuation
Author:
McLean, James
Illustrator:
McLean, James
Author:
Shore, John
Publisher:
St. Martin's Press
Subject:
General
Subject:
Writing Skills
Subject:
English language
Subject:
Linguistics
Subject:
Punctuation
Edition Description:
Us
Publication Date:
August 2005
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
140
Dimensions:
8.46x5.82x.67 in. .64 lbs.

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