The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed [Paperback]

Karen Elizabeth Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 19, 2003

At long last, The New Well-Tempered Sentence rescues punctuation from the perils of boredom, with wholly original explanations of the rules of punctuation, whimsical graphics, and utterly unforgettable characters (yes, characters in a grammar book). Gordon teaches you clearly and simply where to place a comma and how to use an apostrophe. Gradually, as you master the elusive slashes, dots, and dashes that give expression to our most perplexing thoughts, you will find yourself in the grip of a bizarre and bemusing comedy of manners. Witty, saucy, and utterly unforgettable, The New Well-Tempered Sentence is a must-have for anyone who has ever despaired of opening a punctuation handbook but whose sentences despair without one.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Karen Elizabeth Gordon is the author of the classic and comic reference books The Deluxe Transitive Vampire, The New Well-Tempered Sentence, and Torn Wings and Faux Pas. Her wanderlusting fiction includes The Ravenous Muse, The Red Shoes and Other Tattered Tales, and Paris Out of Hand. She lives in Berkeley, California and Paris.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (September 19, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618382011
• ISBN-13: 978-0618382019
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Education & Reference > Trivia & Fun Facts

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars New and improved = Lost its charm January 27, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

It's a real shame what has become of this book in revision. The original was a tiny collection of wonderful sentences, with the occasional dry rule of punctuation pretending to ride herd over the lot. Much of the humor came from the interplay between these two, like a straight man setting up his partner for a punchline. In the expanded version, the discussion of punctuation rules runs along for paragraphs and pages, and has gotten too clever for its own good. The delightful examples, who used to hold center stage, now get lost in the commotion. This is probably much more useful by way of instruction, but the original's simple charm is nowhere to be found. Maybe you'll want to own both.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Never a Misplaced ,.!;:"?'()][- Again December 2, 2001

By Rivkah Maccaby

Format:Hardcover

First, I sadly confess that I much prefer the earlier edition of this book. I can't really tell exactly what has been added to this edition, except to acknowledge that it is longer. The beauty of the first book was that after you looked up whatever you needed to look up, you couldn't put it down. The book still has the same effect, but with a more compelling sense that you really ought to put it down because you have something better to do. I suspect that what has been added is mere "filler": stuff to puff the book up so that people won't mind paying more for it.

Nonetheless, this still is the best manual of form to have. It is so remarkably clear, that a textbook review committee would probably wonder whether some mistake had been made. Simply look up the punctuation mark in question in the clearly labeled table of contents, and your question will be answered in no time. Better yet, reserve a Sunday afternoon to read the book cover to cover, and never have a punctuation question again.

Yes, I did say read it cover to cover. Ms. Gordon has done for manuals of grammar what Dorothy Parker did for book reviews, or Judith Martin does for etiquette. This is quite an enjoyable romp with cross-eyed scholar-poets, that prima donna [Too-Too LaBlanca], and Torquil and Jonquil, (who will accompany you to the spa on Epiphany, if you accompany them to Ornette Coleman's recital afterwards [sic]).

So I must admit, even though I don't think the second edition is any improvement over the first, I still think this book is miles beyond any other of its kind. You may wish to have a more complete manual of style, as this book covers punctuation only, but you will still benefit from having this book.... A complete manual of style will devote only a few pages to punctuation, and give few examples; its instructions will never be clear. With The Well-Tempered Sentence by your side, however, you will never punctuate incorrectly again. Read more ›

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Divine! April 28, 2001

By Charlotte Vale-Allen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Since its publication, I have given literally several dozen copies of this splendid, amusingly informative book to friends, to fellow writers, to students, and to anyone with either a passion for language or problems with grammar. It is unique in its wonderfully Gothic approach to conveying the odd and sometimes illogical rules of English grammar. It is also just plain fun. Absolutely a must for anyone even the least bit confused about just where a semi-colon goes, or when to use serial commas. Along with the Rodale Synonym Finder and the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, this is a book that lives next to my desk--always. Top marks! There's absolutely nothing, anywhere, that comes near this charming, clever little language guide.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The New Well-Tempered Sentence November 11, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I purchased this book for an online class on grammar and punctuation. The book is an excellent resource for punctuation. It succinctly explains when to use each form of punctuation and has many examples.

However, the examples are all bizarre sentences that make sense grammatically but not necessarily in reality, such as, "After this string of scurrilous anecdotes, she sprinkled the lawn with pearls." Even passages that are identified as footnotes can be bizarre. "A footnote, wearin' a cowboy boot: These lyrics are sung in an amphitheater with clotheslines draped over the stage and out into the audience. Most of the time the cowboys are washing their silk teddies and underpants studded with red rhinestone hears and rhinestone-eyed cows, and hanging them to dry."

The sentences are used as a stylistic device to make the book less like a grammar textbook and more interesting to read. That is an admirable goal, when it comes to a book on punctuation, but the device is used to excess.

The book also contains many illustrations, described by the front jacket as "whimsical graphics." They seem intended to give the book a Gothic look. Being somewhat conventional, I did not like the fact that the majority of captions had nothing to do with the images; instead, they were just odd sentences. Also, between this book and the author's grammar guide, The Deluxe Transitive Vampire, there are an awful lot of pictures of naked, or half-naked, women, bordering on gratuitousness.

My complaints aside, I do not doubt the author's command of the rules of punctuation. This book does an excellent job of describing the proper use of punctuation. I have consulted it several times while writing this review to answer questions like "Is a restrictive adjective clause set off by commas?..." I am keeping The New Well-Tempered Sentence as a reference book in my library. Read more ›

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A treat for the eyes' ears September 22, 1997

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

In _The New Well-Tempered Sentence_, Karen Elizabeth Gordon acts as arbiter elegantiae of punctuation. If she is less cheerfully infallible than Fowler, she is also more of an artist of English. Ms. Gordon has great fun playing with the language, and readers are invited to share in the merriment. The first two sentences of her chapter on commas speak for themselves:

"A comma is a delicate kink in time, a pause within a sentence, a chance to catch your breath. A curvaceous acrobat, it capers over the page."

You'll be entertained with examples haunted by a bizarre cast of characters going about their strange and Gothic business.

Keep it on your reference shelf, somewhere between William Zinsser's _On Writing Well_ and Strunk and White's _The Elements of Style_.