Eats, Shoots & Leaves Illustrated Edition [Hardcover]

Lynne Truss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2008 | Age Level: 18 and up | Grade Level: 12 and up

Now in a handsome, hilariously illustrated new edition: The stickler-tickling punctuation polemic that has sold more than 1.6 million copies in North America is even more fun with the whimsical art of acclaimed New Yorker cartoonist Pat Byrnes.

The runaway bestseller that has everyone minding their p?s and q?s (and their commas and semicolons), Eats, Shoots & Leaves has delighted audiences around the world and elevated Lynne Truss to superstickler status among those in the know. Language lovers everywhere will cheer the arrival of this new edition, beautifully packaged in a larger format with a red cloth-over-board cover and containing more than fifty vivid, full-color drawings. Created by renowned cartoonist Pat Byrnes, each illustration brings to life a different punctuation pitfall in a wickedly playful style that matches Truss?s trademark wit. Eats, Shoots & Leave Illustrated Edition is also accompanied by a colorful foreword by wordsmith extraordinaire Frank McCourt.

Published just in time for holiday gift-giving, Eats Shoots & Leaves Illustrated Edition is sure to be at the top of wish lists coast to coast.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lynne Truss is a writer and journalist who started out as a literary editor with a blue pencil and then got sidetracked. The author of three novels and numerous radio comedy dramas, she spent six years as the television critic of The Times of London, followed by four (rather peculiar) years as a sports columnist for the same newspaper. She won Columnist of the Year for her work for Women’s Journal. Lynne Truss also hosted Cutting a Dash, a popular BBC Radio 4 series about punctuation. She now reviews books for the Sunday Times of London and is a familiar voice on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Brighton, England.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (October 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592403913
• ISBN-13: 978-1592403912
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lynne Truss is a writer and journalist who started out as a literary editor with a blue pencil and then got sidetracked. The author of three novels and numerous radio comedy dramas, she spent six years as the television critic of The Times of London, followed by four (rather peculiar) years as a sports columnist for the same newspaper. She won Columnist of the Year for her work for Women's Journal. Lynne Truss also hosted Cutting a Dash, a popular BBC Radio 4 series about punctuation. She now reviews books for the Sunday Times of London and is a familiar voice on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Brighton, England.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The illustrations, while nice, are not worth any extra money, February 21, 2009

By 

Metallurgist (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Eats, Shoots & Leaves Illustrated Edition (Hardcover)

I had this book on my wish-list for quite some time. I was delighted to see and buy the illustrated version at a `remainder` price of only $4.95. The illustrations are cute, but I do not think that they warrant any substantially increased price over that of the regular version. I do not feel that the illustrations help very much in getting the ideas across, but neither are they an impediment. The book is nicely hardbound; the illustrations are cute and it would make a nice gift, but be forewarned; it is in effect smaller than the 176 pages that it takes up. There is a one and a half space between each line of text, so subtracting the illustrations (some of which are full-page) and you have a book whose text is actually less than 100 pages in length.

There are over 500 reviews of the regular version, so there is little new that I can say. I base my 4-star rating on the text and on the fact that the illustrations do not add enough to the book to warrant the extra cost that including them entails. I think that the book would have been greatly improved had there been a brief summary (as little as a paragraph) of the material covered in each chapter. Better yet, a concise summary at the end of the book would act as a great review. As it is, one has to wade through a lot of semi-amusing text to get to the heart of the matter. I sometimes got the impression that the author was more interested in being cute and addressed the material to those who, like her, are horrified at the lack of punctuation skills of the rest of us, rather than in doing her utmost to help the rest of us to improve those skills. (Don't get me wrong, I got quite a bit from this book and still recommend it, even though the author gets a bit snide at times.) I also think that the book is a bit `thin` and over-priced, even at the reduced Amazon price, let alone for the list price of $25.

I have always found it strange that I could get through graduate school, have successfully learned advanced calculus, thermodynamics and the rudiments of quantum mechanics, yet find punctuation somewhat of a mystery. This book has helped clear up some of that mystery. It does so in a delightful manner, one geared to adults rather than grade-schoolers. Somehow, like most people, I did not absorb this material in grade school, so some remedial education is clearly needed, and this book provides it. Now I hope that I can remember to apply what I have learned.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book but TINY TINY print--hard to read!, December 18, 2009

By 

Lee A. Smith (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eats, Shoots & Leaves Illustrated Edition (Hardcover)

This is a charming book. The author deals with this otherwise dry material (punctuation!) in a smart and funny manner, with anecdotes and historical references. The problem has nothing to do with the material (which is brilliant), but the mechanics: The typeset is tiny, tiny, tiny. It is, in fact, the smallest print I've seen in a book, ever. I got eye strain reading it, even with my reading glasses perched at the tip of my nose. I recommend buying Eats, Shoots & Leaves in a bookstore, where one can examine the various editions and make sure to select one that is printed in a civilized type size.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty way to learn grammar, May 26, 2010

By 

Carol L. Kwan (Mililani, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Eats, Shoots & Leaves Illustrated Edition (Hardcover)

As a grammar snob, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's written by an English lady and she has the typical dry Brittish sense of humor. There are a few references to America that are incorrect, such as what we call certain punctuation marks, but the meaning is still clear. I read the book to see if it would be a good reference to provide for a writing class and it definitely is. I could hardly put it down, and who would expect that from a book about grammar!