Customer Reviews

Lapsing Into a Comma : A Curmudgeon's Guide to the Many Things That Can Go Wrong in Print--and How to Avoid Them

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After having "the media are" drilled into my head through four years of journalism school, I screamed when Bill Walsh said it's OK to say "the media is." However, I have to admit he has a point, and he states it well.

Walsh says it is difficult to "truly understand the reasons behind the rules -- and therefore know when they should be ignored." He knows enough about grammar to be able to give legitimate reasons for ignoring some rules.

This is not your grandmother's grammar. "Web site" vs. "website" and "e-mail" vs. "email" are the subjects of several rants. And Walsh casts his blessing on split infinitives and sentences beginning with conjunctions.

Throughout these grammar and style lessons, Walsh's writing is interesting, fresh, convincing, intelligent and, yes, funny.

This is a book for grammar-geeks and grammar-phobes alike.

I admit it -- I'm one of those people who can sit in a cornerreading a book on grammar and be perfectly content for hours. I'm also one of those lucky enough to have stumbled across Bill Walsh's Web site...several years ago. Here in this fabulous book he has transferred most of the good advice from his Web site, so that I can now carry it with me wherever I go. (Would I actually do that? Hmm ...)

Bill makes the subject of grammar not only readable, but fun. Yes, I said "fun"! He argues against some of the "silly taboos" of ancient grammatical rules, but he also makes suggestions about when to go along with the rules even if they don't make sense, "if only to avoid the scorn of the misinformed legions." His examples are often hilarious: "Individuals who need individuals are the luckiest individuals in the world"; "Why does Paul McCartney want me to live on his piano?" (You'll have to look in the book for an explanation.)

No, I'm not on his payroll, but I am in his debt. I've used his advice to help me decide how to rewrite a sentence (I don't always agree with him, but it's a real rarity when I don't) and used his examples to add humor to my day. Once you get the book, don't be surprised if you look up how to use a semicolon and find yourself still reading the book a half hour later, chuckling all the way.

Every copy editor (and many who think they're copy editors) should own and faithfully read and reference this book. "Lapsing into a Comma" has the same wit and humor previously found on Walsh's Web site The Slot, and keeps things in a clear and concise fashion that anyone (and by that I mean non-grammar people like myself) can understand. The book answers several questions the AP Stylebook just doesn't cover, and clarifies several things the stylebook does cover.

Bill Walsh is the copy desk chief (business desk) for the "Washington Post." He explains his background in journalism and refers, at times, to the AP style. Don't let this mislead you. Even though a few items are related directly to newspapers (like the section on headlines and captions), the wealth of information is helpful to anyone trying to better his or her writing.

With many grammar textbooks, the reader tries to understand correct grammar and punctuation with rules explained in a confusing manner. The reader will re-read the rule a few times just get the basic idea. In Walsh's book, I found the explanations clear, witty, and helpful. I found his explanations and examples help me in developing my ear for proper grammar.

In the latter half of the book, Walsh has a stylebook with many common errors in writing. Granted, some are so specific that I don't know if they would help me (like knowing that it is Elisabeth Shue and not Elizabeth Shue). Nonetheless, I feel stronger about my grammar skills after reading this book.

I would recommend this book to all people wishing to improve their grammar skills.

Walsh's book is excellent, and a fun read. He even responded quickly to an e-mailed question asking for clarification on a rule regarding quote marks and other punctuation.

One caveat about some of the rules -- The book is written with newspaper writing primarily in mind, so some of the rules about how to handle titles may not apply to academic writing. Check the style of what you're working on.

I just ordered this book. I recently heard about it at the author's website and had to have it.

It was money well spent. I'm buying several more for my favorite copy editors.

This is a necessity for every copy editor or anyone managing copy for print. The author covered all of my pet peeves and touched on capitalization, math, pronoun and verb use and tech terms.

Bill Walsh's choices are sometimes at odds with what we find in the AP Stylebook, but he provides reasonable explanations for his rationale. A good read! This one will remain at arm's length.

This book is worth the 15 bucks if only for the section on quotes--it really shows how to properly construct them. Many other grammar books discuss the things we find in this book, but this author often goes a step further in his explanations. He writes, 'Semi-colons are ugly.' This is good because now we've heard something no other grammarian thought to tell us. It should be pointed out, though, that for the beginning writer there are other more practical grammar books. 'Woe is I' is one; 'English Grammar for Dummies' is another. Still, this book is a must-have for the serious writer.

The book is also annoying for several reasons. This notion that funny makes things more learnable has gotten way out of control. I want to go back to this book time and again but cringe at reading the same joke over and over. I also find the author's relentless name-dropping distracting. How can I concentrate when he's always going on about Nicole and OJ, Muhammad Ali, Newt Gringrich, et al? Then there's the subtle humor he's wont to use to make a point that's often too subtle--you need an extra second or too to deduce the gag.

In sum, the author obviously has a lot to share with us but overdoes the personality thing. When I want hip, subtle, and scads of personality I'll watch 'Friends,' I don't want to see all this in my grammar books.

Nat

Bill Walsh does a great service to the English language by building a potent barricade in the war against imprecision, obfuscation and outright misuse. And he makes it a great read as well. A great gift for your favorite college student or federal official!

This may go beyond what the typical office worker needs to know about style as it is heavily weighted toward newspaper writing. The author is a copy editing guy, (ok, THE copy editing guy) at the Washington Post. But there is plenty of information on common usage as well. Sometimes the errors we make (or we all have other people TELL us we are making) are just a matter of personal preference. Bill Walsh has his own strong preferences but also allows that other usages are not necessarily incorrect. (He is often at odds with the AP stylebook.) I like his approach and find that he provides excellent comparisons and reasoning for what we read and hear every day. Useful and funny too.

I've bought a lot of grammar books; generally, they help me get to sleep. Walsh had me laughing out loud at 2:00 a.m. - not with contrived examples, but with terrible truths. He tells you what's wrong with what you hear and read, and how to recognize what's wrong with what you're about to say and write. I'm still recovering from the warning about Reese's monkeys!