Review: Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss

I am not a big non-fiction reader. I happened to come across this book on my friend Jayanth's bookshelf and I just starting browsing through it. It caught my interest right away.

I do understand the importance of correct punctuation and value it deeply in my reading. However, I wouldn't call myself a "stickler" (The author is a "stickler!" There is a picture of her adding the required apostrophe to a poster of  the movie Two Weeks Notice, on the back, inside cover of the book). At the same time, I felt compelled to read this book.

How can a book on punctuation be fun? It can be informative, instructive, but fun? This book with the tag-line "The Zero-Tolerance Approach to Punctuation," was actually a fun read! It is amazing that a mundane (but important) topic like punctuation can become such an interesting read.

Besides the history and evolution of various punctuation marks, the differences between British and American punctuation styles, and the subtleties of the usage of punctuation marks, what I loved about this book was the author's style of writing.


Witty and sarcastic, providing hilarious examples as to how punctuation can change the entire meaning of a piece of writing, Lynne Truss's passion for the subject shines through. She explains that despite the rules, punctuation, much like writing itself, can be subjective, and has room for creativity. She renders what could have been a boring, dreary read, into a comic, creative and illuminating journey delving on the importance of correct punctuation and its frequent misuses.