“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 WordsWriting well is important for business, but it also can be crucial in love, the writers warn. Do you want to say, "I would like to tell you that I love you. I can't stop thinking that you are one of the prettiest women on Earth," or "I would like to tell you that I love you. I can't. Stop thinking that you are one of the prettiest women on Earth." As Lederer and Shore say, "Punctuation can mean the difference between a second date and a restraining order."
---Margo Hammond, St. Petersburg Times
"Lederer and Shore's Comma Sense-bear in mind that it's their first collaboration-is speckled with humor so lame that it keeps falling on its assonance." Whoever wrote that callous, brutal comment about Comma Sense must be lacking in their own sense of humor. Oh, wait, that comment was written by Lederer and Shore. My mistake. Yes, this book is truly unique! If language can be considered a cartoon, then Comma Sense is Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road Runner, Batman, the Far Side, Charlie Brown, and Donald Duck all rolled into one. Each chapter is devoted to one of 13 punctuation marks. These punctuation marks have fun, make fun, and are fun! My favorite is the dash, who is compared to Fred Astaire: "The dash emboldens eloquence; Fred Astaire embodies elegance. Plus, they're both skinny." Comma Sense spins tales that sound like facts until you realize that they co-exist with punctuation marks in the wild and crazy world of Ledererean lingofantasy. "Little Shirley Temple chirped, '…And most of all, I'd like to thank that most wonderful of punctuation marks, the hyphen, which I personify!'" Seriously, this book has been cited as the clearest source on punctuation ever written. It is necessary for saving the human race from its dangerous slide into a punctuationless exclamation point of no return! It tells you everything you wanted to know about punctuation but were afraid to ask. If you want to see punc rock, open the pages of this comprehensive, hilarious book. Here is a song you will find in it that showcases the seven coordinating conjunctions. It is sung to the tune of the Julie Andrews smash hit, "Do, Re, Mi." Go ahead and sing it out loud! If your neighbors complain, give them this review and tell them to buy the book!
And, a word, a real small word;
But, it's spelled with just one t;
Or, a stick we use to row;
Nor, half of a cold countreeeee;
Yet, you bet it rhymes with wet;
For, one number more than three;
So a button on your fly-
And that brings us back to do, re, mi!
---Dave Morice, Word Ways
