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Eats, Shoots & Leaves

Article  in  Injury Prevention · February 2005

DOI: 10.1136/ip.2004.007864 · Source: PubMed Central

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PostScript ..............................................................................................
BOOK REVIEW
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Edited by Lynne Truss. (Pp 209; hardback.)
Gotham Books (Penguin Group) New York,
2003. ISBN 1-592-40087-6.
Most writers punctuate. Not everyone punc-
tuates correctly. Few punctuate well.
Lynne Truss’s best-seller, Eats, Shoots &
Leaves is certain to raise each reader’s writing
one large notch. As a bonus, it is a great read;
witty, caustic, and wise. If only I had written
this review before the book’s meteoric climb
to the top best-seller lists (where it remains).
Had I done so this would not now be in the
company of the hundreds of other reviews,
mostly positive, ranging from warm praise to
exuberance. Only a few—notably that by
Louis Menand in the New Yorker (June 28,
2004, pp 102–4)—are profoundly critical.
(Methinks Menand must be a sourpuss.)
This is a book to be read for fun and profit.
If all contributors to this and other journals
read it and took it to heart, how much more
readable and enjoyable even the most arid
scientific papers would be! I read Eats, Shoots
& Leaves as a writer who is constantly
struggling to improve his style and as an
editor who is compelled to improve that of
his contributors. (And, as I wrote that, I
asked myself ‘‘Should there be a comma
before the ‘and’’’?)
This book is a cri de coeur of a ‘‘writer and
journalist who started out as a literary editor
with a blue pencil, and then got sidetracked’’.
Truss is a self admitted stickler. She hectors
and mocks but does so with such a relatively
light touch that even the most careless writer
is unlikely to be offended. Her mission is,
nevertheless, a serious one: she is determined
to improve writing by focusing attention on
the most neglected element in the holy trinity
of style—punctuation (the others are struc-
ture and words).
How can you not chuckle when someone
stakes out her position as follows: ‘‘In some
matters of punctuation there are simple
rights and wrongs; in others, one must apply
a good ear to good sense… Eats, Shoots &
Leaves is not a book about grammar. I’m not a
grammarian. To me a subordinate clause will
forever be… one of Santa’s little helpers. A
degree in English language is not a prerequi-
site for caring about where a bracket is
preferred to a dash, or, needs to be replaced
by a semicolon. If I did not believe that
everyone is capable of understanding where
an apostrophe goes, I would not be writing
this book.’’
In the Introduction punctuation is defined
and described in various ways. One is by
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using the analogy of stitching: ‘‘punctuation
as the basting that holds the fabric of
language in shape’’. Another writer tells us
that punctuation marks are ‘‘the traffic
signals of language: they tell us to slow
down, notice this, take a detour, and stop’’.
Or, ‘‘Punctuation herds words together, keeps
others apart. Punctuation directs you how to
read, in the way musical notation directs a
musician how to play.’’ Quoting a newspaper
style guide, punctuation is ‘‘a courtesy
designed to help readers to understand the
story without stumbling’’’. (Tricky punctua-
tion that…a quote within a quote!)
The book has seven sections: An
Introduction—The Seventh Sense; The
Tractable Apostrophe; That’ll do, Comma;
Airs and Graces (the colon and semicolon);
Cutting a Dash; A Little Used Punctuation
Mark (the hyphen); and Merely
Conventional Signs (a sort of wrap-up).
There is also a bibliography, but no index.
Alongside the fun, prods, and instruction,
Truss has another treat in store for readers
addicted to punctuation; segues on the
history of various punctuation marks and
indeed, on the history of books on the topic.
Only one word of caution: it helps greatly if
you know something about words and
phrases familiar to English-speakers who live
in Britain—such as Truss’s favorite candy
‘‘Opal Fruits’’ (one of my favorites, too).
Frank McCourt (author of Angela’s Ashes)
writes in the Introduction, ‘‘… pause a
moment, dear reader, and imagine this page
of deathless prose, the one you’re reading,
without punctuation’’. If you cannot imagine
it, rush out and buy a copy before the stock
disappears from the shelves of your favorite
bookstore. You will be amply rewarded.
Barry Pless
Editor; barry.pless@mcgill.ca
CALENDAR
RoSPA Road Safety Congress
28 February–2 March 2005, Brighton, UK.
The theme of the 70th Road Safety Congress
is ‘‘Driving Deaths Down’’. Visit the road
safety section of the http://www.rospa.com
for more information.
Preventing violence: from global
perspectives to national action
10–11 March 2005. This WHO sponsored
conference is being held in Liverpool, UK.
More information: http://www.preventviolence.
info.
Injury Prevention 2005;11:64
2005 (US) National Injury Prevention
and Control Conference
9–11 May 2005. The theme of this conference
to be held in Denver, Colorado, is ‘‘Injury and
Violence in America: Meeting Challenges,
Sharing Solutions’’. Further details: http://
www.cdc.gov/ncipc/2005conference.
Canadian Multidisciplinary Road
Safety Conference
5–8 June 2005, Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Further information: http://www.carsp.ca/
cmrsc.htm.
19th International Technical
Conference on the Enhanced Safety
of Vehicles Conference (ESV)
6–9 June 2005, Washington, DC. Visit http://
www-esv2005.nhtsa.dot.gov.
14th International Safe Communities
Conference
13–15 June 2005, Bergen, Norway. Further
information: http://www.safebergen.com.
1st World Congress on Sports Injury
Prevention
23–25 June 2005, Oslo, Norway. The 1st
World Congress on Sports Injury Prevention
will provide an overview of how injuries in
sports can be effectively prevented. The
second announcement and programme are
now available at the conference website
http://www.ostrc.no/congress2005.
3rd Asian Regional Conference on
Safe Communities
19–22 October 2005, Taipei, Taiwan. Further
information: http://www.safe2005.com.tw.
3rd New Zealand Injury Prevention
Conference
2–4 November 2005, Wellington, New
Zealand. ‘‘Living and playing safely in
Aotearoa New Zealand’’ is the theme of this
meeting. Visit http://www.ipn.org.nz for
more information.
3rd (Canadian) National Conference
on Injury Prevention and Control
6–8 November 2005, Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Canada. The theme is ‘‘Evidence to Action
’05: Injury, Violence and Suicide Prevention’’.
8th World Conference on Injury
Prevention and Safety Promotion
2–5 April 2006, Durban, South Africa (note
change of dates and venue). Further infor-
mation and key dates: http://www.
safety2006.info.