Customer Reviews

Just Commas: 9 Rules to Master Comma Usage

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If you're like me, this little book will keep you from sinking into the quicksand of comma usage. Have you ever wondered where to put those squirrelly little punctuation marks in dates? Or whether the comma goes inside or outside single and double quotation marks? Or whether that "and" clause needs a comma, and if it does, whether the comma should go before or after the "and"? "Just Commas" will put you on firm ground. You don't have to slog through a swamp of punctuation advice - everything is laid out very simply - just nine basic rules. I was happy to lay my hands on it. I found I was hauling the book out so often, I now keep it right on the desk next to my dictionary and Roget.

Missing and misplaced commas are a pet peeve. This is a terrific guide I've given to several team members. The response and results have been terrific.

Love the approach here: The authors start by outlining nine basic rules and then give a chapter to each. For every rule there are great examples and practice exercises that bring the principles to life. Now, will someone please write "Just Semi-Colons"?

Just Commas, Nonprofit Evaluation Director

I am the evaluation director for a national nonprofit organization. I write a lot of reports and also edit the writing of my colleagues. Many of my colleagues are great writers but often make grammatical mistakes, including the incorrect use of commas. We don't have resources for writing skills training, so I bought this book and shared it with my office (incidentally I found that it helped me too). These authors wrote another book, Professional Writing Skills, a self-paced training manual, that I also bought and found very helpful.

Eventhough I did not major in English and was hired into this job because of my management skills (not my writing skills), I am now spending most of my time writing press releases and communicating, primarily by email, with advertising agencies. I missed a few basic grammar rules along the way and have never been really clear about when to use commas. I bought another book about grammar but it tried to cover too much. This one is much more focused on my particular problem and I found that the layout was easier to follow. I would recommend this book to anyone else who forgot the rules.

After years of guessing and then randomly plopping commas in questionable places, I finally found a book with all the answers - clearly explained with examples that removed all doubt. An invaluable tool, "Just Commas," is plainly written and cleverly presented. I also appreciate the fact that I can pick up the book and read any part of it.

I was disappointed. Over one-third of the book consists of blank pages, half-blank pages, or pages for the reader to make notes; the rest is double-spaced. I was looking for a 92-page tome that would have space to cover the hard cases with examples and clear rules. This book is nothing more than what's given in a half-dozen pages of any standard style guide (or even a good comma-rule website).

I am a student and I bought this book because I have always had problems with commas. Besides my problem with commas, I can write well. I liked the way this book presented the nine rules to follow. I made a copy of the rules and taped the list up on the wall next to my computer. That way, when I'm confused or forget where to put the comma, I can review these basic rules. It didn't take too long to read the book and do the practice exercises and I'm doing better already.