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The New Well Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed (Hardcover)

~ Karen Elizabeth Gordon (Author) "WHAT A WILD, reckless, willful invention!..." (more)
Key Phrases: independent clauses, Sola Crespusci, The Mauled Scribe
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
List Price: $16.00
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  Hardcover, July 9, 1993 $10.88 $2.60 $0.01
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Frequently Bought Together

The New Well Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed + The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed + Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose
Price For All Three: $37.52

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  • This item: The New Well Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon

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  • The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed by Karen Elizabeth Gordon

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  • Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose by Constance Hale

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For over a decade THE WELL TEMPERED SENTENCE has provided instruction and pleasure to the wariest student and the most punctilious scholar alike. Now Karen Elizabeth Gordon has revised and enlarged her classic handbook with fuller explanations of the rules of punctuation, additional whimsical graphics, and further character development and drama -- all the while redeeming punctuation from the perils of boredom. For anyone who has despaired of opening a punctuation handbook (but whose sentences despair without one), THE NEW WELL TEMPERED SENTENCE will teach you clearly and simply where to place a comma and how to use an apostrophe. And 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 beguiling comedy of manners. Long-time fans will delight in the further intrigues of cover girl Loona, the duke and duchess, and the mysterious Rosie and Nimrod. The New Well-Tempered Sentence is sure to entertain while teaching you everything you want to know about punctuation. Never before has punctuation been so much fun!


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

  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Rev Sub edition (July 10, 1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0395628830
  • ISBN-13: 978-0395628836
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #271,068 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
WHAT A WILD, reckless, willful invention! Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
independent clauses
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sola Crespusci, The Mauled Scribe
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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The New Well Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed
75% buy the item featured on this page:
The New Well Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed 4.0 out of 5 stars (22)
$10.88
The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed
12% buy
The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed 4.4 out of 5 stars (35)
$16.47
Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose
7% buy
Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose 4.9 out of 5 stars (31)
$10.17
The Elephants of Style : A Trunkload of Tips on the Big Issues and Gray Areas of Contemporary American English
3% buy
The Elephants of Style : A Trunkload of Tips on the Big Issues and Gray Areas of Contemporary American English 4.9 out of 5 stars (7)
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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews
5 star:
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4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (4)
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars New and improved = Lost its charm, January 27, 1999
By A Customer
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.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Never a Misplaced ,.!;:"?'()][- Again, December 2, 2001
By Rivkah Maccaby "Rivkah Maccaby" (Bloomington, IN United States) - See all my reviews
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.

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Divine!, April 28, 2001
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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have
I am a zoning administrator for a Michigan township, and I have seen time and again how poor writing is the cause of significant harm to many people. Read more
Published 4 months ago by John S. Hull

1.0 out of 5 stars Not good for learning.
This was required reading for a grammar class, and it was not what I would choose as a good reference. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Linsey

5.0 out of 5 stars delectable
This is yet another of my collection of useful and pleasurable reference books on the English language books. Better than food and wittily served. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Gloria J. Rovay

5.0 out of 5 stars The New Well-Tempered Sentence....
This book offers one of the most provocative, entertaining, and memorable experiences I've ever had in revisiting the 'rules & rational' behind English sentence structure. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Lydia Fortune

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute
As an English teacher, I agree with the reviews that express dismay at Ms. Gordon's idiosyncratic application of traditional grammar rules. Read more
Published on June 2, 2007 by Michelle

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Review
This is what needs to be taught in schools. I taught in high schools for several years and the punctuation was very bad. Read more
Published on May 14, 2007 by D. Showalter

3.0 out of 5 stars Structurally questionable at times, but amusing.
Karen Elizabeth Gordon, The New Well-Tempered Sentence (Houghton Mifflin, 1993)

I'm still not quite sure how much I enjoyed The New Well-Tempered Sentence. Read more
Published on January 3, 2007 by Robert P. Beveridge

3.0 out of 5 stars Appealing with its gothic, romantic presentation, the book offers only moderate help
'The Well Tempered Sentence' is a slim volume (only 93 pages) and is well presented with a pleasing font, playful examples, and some interesting illustrations. Read more
Published on February 6, 2006 by Schtinky

4.0 out of 5 stars A progressive classic for the new age!
This book has helped me so much with my grammar. Really! I were flunking out of college English so my friend said to me, "You should get this book - it is really good" and so I... Read more
Published on January 23, 2006 by zontor!

4.0 out of 5 stars But it does have great examples
I agree with some of the previous reviewers that the language used in the book-- for sentence/punctuation models-- is confusing. Read more
Published on January 20, 2006 by E. Anderson

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