Comma Sense: A Fundamental Guide to Punctuation
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Book Overview
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.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0312342543
ISBN13:9780312342548
Release Date:August 2005
Publisher:St. Martin's Press
Length:140 Pages
Weight:0.68 lbs.
Dimensions:0.7" x 5.8" x 8.5"
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
Indispensible guide to grammer & punctuation
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
I love this book and refer to it often. The book's format makes it very easy to find what you are looking for, with lots of examples to show how a certain punctuation is used. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to brush up on their rusty knowledge.
Buy it , you'll like it.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
This is the unique book that has you mentally tallying up your friend's birthdays before you get to the last chapter (lets see... I can buy it for Ken, and Susie, and my daughter so she won't dog-ear my copy...). I picked this up for an educationally boring read that would knock me out at bedtime and instead found myself staying up most of the night laughing. Comma Sense is the darndest, funniest, wittiest educational book I've ever read. You can't help but learn something... it sort of seeps into your brain while you're distracted with a mental picture of what the Andrew Sisters would look like if viewed from above (yes, of COURSE they would look like...well, read Chapter 13 and you'll find out). I would write more, but I have to rush out now and buy extra copies for everyone I know.
Not just another book on punctuation
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Not just another book on punctuation! What can Comma Sense: A Fundamental Guide To Punctuation hold over its many competitors? 'Fun' is the operative word here, as Richard Lederer and John Shore poke fun at the misuse of punctuation and how choices in punctuation can have very different results. Plenty of examples come couched in this humor, which makes Comma Sense quite easy to learn. Just consider that here the exclamation point is the 'titan of tingle, the prince of palpitation' and you have some idea of the allure of Comma Sense - and its potential of educating those who traditionally wouldn't touch grammar books with a ten-foot pole.
Comma Sense: A Fun-damental Guide to Pronunciation.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
For me, personally, this was the right book at the right time. I was searching for a source that would support or contrast the recent (British) publication entitled: EATS, SHOOTS AND LEAVES which, while an excellent and useful guide, left me confounded regarding its appropriateness for American English. This matter was settled promptly by the authors of the subject. My recent re-interest in writing improvement and excellence, aside from standard business letters, has been spurned by an increased usage of email. I am familiar with Richard Lederer's work and use of humor, and this lived up to and exceeded my expectations: All issues pertaining to punctuation are addressed; and all conceivable questions answered. Additionally, the handy "review" section following the last chapter makes this an invaluable, easy-to-use, portable guide. This is far more than recommendable: it's necessary!
Making Punctuation Fun and Easy
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Probably the most entertaining book on proper punctuation ever written. It should be in the hands of every student from third grade through college, as well as anyone who ever has to write a business letter or resume. The rules are very simple and made both funny and understandable. You will probably never find a book on language that is so much fun reading. And reading it will almost certainly improve your letter and paper writing. A wonderful Christmas present for a teen-ager. The book seems a natural for series of educational shorts for use in schools, enabling Toastmaster "Golden Gaval" winner Lederer to do what he likes to best: Educate children in good English. Short but one of the best books Mr. Lederer has written.
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