Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: sentence diagramming, diagramming sentences, Gertrude Stein, New York, Miss Peckham (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A pleasantly discursive and affectionate tribute to an antiquated art. Ms. Florey closes with a levelheaded assessment of diagramming, listing its virtues by acknowledging its weaknesses." -- Wall Street Journal

"Diagramming sentences may have gone the way of the slide ruler, but this charming little book makes deconstruction of language fun." -- Chicago Tribune

"Florey writes with verve about the nuns who taught her to render the English language as a mess of slanted lines, explains how diagrams work, and traces the bizarre history of the men who invented this odd pedagogical tool... It's a great read." -- Slate

"Kitty Burns Florey always liked diagramming sentences, she says, and nobody who reads Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog will presume to doubt her. Subtitled `The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences,' the book is a nostalgia trip to the '50s, fondly evoking a sixth-grade class learning to wrestle syntax into the framework of the Reed-Kellogg system." -- Boston Globe

"This gem from copyeditor Florey is a bracing ode to grammar: it's laced with a survivor's nostalgia for classrooms ruled by knuckle-cracking nuns who knew their participles." -- People Magazine --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

"Kitty Burns Florey seems to write from a great wellspring of inner calm that derives from a gleeful appreciation of life’s smallest details."
—Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls

"This book is not a primer; it’s a prize."
—Robert Hartwell Fiske, author of The Dictionary of Disagreeable English

"A wistful, charming and funny ode to a nearly lost art. Those who remember will cheer. Those who don’t will wonder what fun they missed and whether it will be preserved for future generations. All will agree Florey’s passion is infectious and entertaining."
—June Casagrande, author of Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Melville House; First Edition, First Printing Stated edition (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933633107
• ISBN-13: 978-1933633107
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #230,096 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, October 30, 2006

By	T. MacCombie (Amherst, MA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Who would have thought one could write such a funny, and charming, and informative book on sentence diagramming? Kitty Florey weaves her own 6th grade experiences diagramming sentences under the watchful eye of Sister Bernadette, and then reflects on other writers, notably Gertrude Stein, who was passionate about grammar, and even loved diagramming, (who knew?) but then wrote sentences that obeyed her OWN rules and defied grammatical conventions. Florey's tone, throughout this delightful book, is one of spontaneous humor and warmth. She is passionate about language herself, and seeing how language has evolved, with or without the help of diagramming, is a fascinating look at ourselves, our culture, and gives us a clue about what the future may hold for the written and spoken word.

77 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barking for Bernadette, October 27, 2006

By	Michelle Bisson (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a fabulous read: it is brilliant, erudite, easy-to-read, and laugh-out-loud funny. It will teach you all you never even thought to ask about diagramming sentences, but it is about far more than that. Really, it's an exploration of the evolution of the English language, the gap between those of us who MUST speak and write properly and those who say--whatever. Mostly, it'll make you laugh out loud and how many authors can do that? Move over, Lynn Truss and David Sedaris.

33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A walk down memory lane, December 4, 2006

By	M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

It's wonderful to meet, though just through writing, someone who had as much fun diagramming sentences as I did. If only she had enjoyed parsing sentences and conjugating verbs as much :-). The author had excellent control of her material as she went through her memories, the history of the diagrams and the delightfully convoluted sentences from a variety of writers. Only twice did I want to question her. First, for her definition of parsing which left out all the fun - mood, tense, person, number; second, for her dismissal of the tree diagrams used by linguists where she ignored their main advantage - going down to the smallest level of meaning e.g. -ed noted as a past tense marked on walked. Moving past the nit-picking, which as a copy editor the author implied she would enjoy, I only became bored/willing to set the book down in the final chapter - the "survey" of the use of diagramming in today's classrooms and what diagramming actually teaches one.

I definately recommend this book to anyone who loved to diagram sentences.