Excellent!, 21 Oct 2008
I bought I Before E and I Used to Know That earlier in the year as I need to brush up spelling, general knowledge etc as my godchildren keep asking me awkward homework questions!!!! I had an email from Amazon recommending this book so for a fiver I thought why not!
Very interesting read, I have to say I opened it with a great deal of fear as I always thought Grammar was a bit of a bore - but this book was both funny and informative - that has to be a first when it comes to Grammar :)
Broken down into basic chapters such as spellings and confusables, sentence structure, punctuation, speech and my own personal favourite odds and sods I now feel I know what I am talking about - hopefully my godchildren will now think I am genius!
This is a lovely book - a very nice Xmas gift I would have thought!

Excellent!, 21 Oct 2008
I bought I Before E and I Used to Know That earlier in the year as I need to brush up spelling, general knowledge etc as my godchildren keep asking me awkward homework questions!!!! I had an email from Amazon recommending this book so for a fiver I thought why not!
Very interesting read, I have to say I opened it with a great deal of fear as I always thought Grammar was a bit of a bore - but this book was both funny and informative - that has to be a first when it comes to Grammar :)
Broken down into basic chapters such as spellings and confusables, sentence structure, punctuation, speech and my own personal favourite odds and sods I now feel I know what I am talking about - hopefully my godchildren will now think I am genius!
This is a lovely book - a very nice Xmas gift I would have thought!

Funny and educational, 26 Mar 2008
This books is far more than its title's amusing amphibology. It's funny, educational and very readable.

I work in software engineering and like many software engineers, I frequent the spelling and grammar checker. I frequent it regularly. In fact, my life would be quite tough without it.

Now in software engineering, there's nothing worse than looking at awful code that doesn't follow anything close to a resemblance of normal engineering standards. It's a surreal feeling that has this offensive nauseousness about it. The frustrations are simply indescribable to anybody who hasn't had the misfortune to work in the industry. Now, we software engineers sometimes think we are alone in experiencing these emotions, as perhaps they are the result of our innate pedantic propensities. We think the rest of human species don't suffer as much as we do. I mean who else has to look at spaghetti code?

So, it really made me laugh to hear Lynne Truss describe her innate frustations and intolerance of poor punctuation.
The English language, just like Software Engineering, has a clear logical set of punctuation rules. We just seem too ignorant and lazy to follow them. The English language, again just like Software Engineering, has its purists (or sticklers in Truss lexicon) whose stomachs squelch coming across asinine errors and sooner or later the pedant's affliction will manifest.

Truss navigates through every punctutation edifice. The comma, the apostrophe, the dash and all the usual suspects are explained clearly, succintly and with the utmost deference. Each one getting its own separate chapter. She shows acumen, acuity and peppers explainations with quirky and funny anecdotes of incorrect usage.

But it's Truss' reaction and feelings to poor punctuation that make this book funny. She's absolutely livid. Anyone with even a small bit of pendantry about anything at all will empathise and laugh.

My appreciation English of punctuation grew from reading this book. I'll still make errors - no doubt a few are in this review!
But it's a very good book. My only critism would be that I felt it was a little bit on the short side. A few edits and it would have been no more than an appendix in a grammar book or a good quality dictionary. But you certainly wouldn't get the laughs in such an appendix!

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

Lynne Truss Has Got A Little List, 12 Jan 2008
As someday it may happen that a victim must be found,
She's got a little list -- she's got a little list
Of illiterate offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed -- who never would be missed!
There's the greengrocer's redundant and reviled apostrophe
Granting unapproved possession of the carrot and the pea --
All the dangling expectations when the commas aren't in pairs --
All the chaos that's created in semantical affairs --
All editors eliminating semis from your list --
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

She's got 'em on the list -- she's got 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed -- they'll none of 'em be missed.

There's the muzzy-headed journalist whose phrases roam like sheep,
Who thinks that commas don't exist -- she's got him on her list!
And the pedants whose subordinated clauses bring on sleep,
They never would be missed -- they never would be missed!
There's the manuscript that always gives infuriating pause
By the wrongful punctuation of the inoffensive clause,
And ambiguous intentions when a colon should be placed
But the author for some reason holds that mark in great distaste,
And the cavalier exclaimer who from screaming can't desist --
I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'd not be missed!

She's got him on the list -- she's got him on the list;
And I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'll not be missed!

And the sentences that ought to end but will not mind the stop
So the readers lose the gist -- she's got 'em on the list!
And the badly punctuated placard shilling for a shop,
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed.
And the foes of readability with dashes everywhere,
They inch along in fits and starts, they make you want to swear,
The intolerant authorities whose standards are not yours,
Those moral weaklings oozing indecision from their pores,

It's a stickler's job to see they all are placed upon the list,
For they'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

In homage to THE MIKADO; libretto by W.S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan.

Linda Bulger, 2008

"Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs" - THIS WOMAN DOES NOT REPRESENT US!, 14 Dec 2007
All this shows us is that Lynne Truss really should get out more. I can sort of tolerate the snooty and condesending tone in which it's written (not to mention horrendously boring), but the personification of apostrophes really is a step too far. This book should've been called "An Attack Against Dyslexia, by an Obsessive Compulsive". A good friend of mine, a grammar buff no less, read it thinking it may be something that'd interest him. He too gave up a few pages in describing it as "Just irritating" and concluding "Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs."

It is nearly 20 years since Bill Bryson first penned his deliciously witty paean to precision Troublesome Words. Now he has revised it and 60 per cent of the content is new so it's well worth another browse and a place on the desk corner of anyone who likes words and who wants to get things right.

Once a sub-editor at The Times, Bryson is irresistibly drawn to knowing that "to flaunt" means to display ostentatiously but "to flout" means to treat with contempt. Or that a straitjacket may be straight but its name means that its occupant is confined and restricted--in straitened circumstances, perhaps. And can you explain the difference between a Creole and a Pidgin or between egoism and egotism? If not consult Bryson. Then you'll be able to. There's no pedantry or pomposity in Bryson's writing. But he argues: "Just as we all agree that clarity is better served if 'cup' represents a drinking vessel and 'cap' something you put on your head, so too I think the world is a fractionally better place if we agree to preserve a distinction between 'its' and 'it's', between 'I lay down the law' and 'I lie down to sleep', between 'imply' and 'infer' and countless others."

Bryson modestly jokes that this alphabetically arranged book could be subtitled "Even More Things in English Usage That the Author Wasn't Entirely Clear about Until Quite Recently". If only most of us were sure about a fraction of the things Bryson clearly understands very well we might all be more effective writers and speakers. --Susan Elkin

Excellent!, 21 Oct 2008
I bought I Before E and I Used to Know That earlier in the year as I need to brush up spelling, general knowledge etc as my godchildren keep asking me awkward homework questions!!!! I had an email from Amazon recommending this book so for a fiver I thought why not!
Very interesting read, I have to say I opened it with a great deal of fear as I always thought Grammar was a bit of a bore - but this book was both funny and informative - that has to be a first when it comes to Grammar :)
Broken down into basic chapters such as spellings and confusables, sentence structure, punctuation, speech and my own personal favourite odds and sods I now feel I know what I am talking about - hopefully my godchildren will now think I am genius!
This is a lovely book - a very nice Xmas gift I would have thought!

Funny and educational, 26 Mar 2008
This books is far more than its title's amusing amphibology. It's funny, educational and very readable.

I work in software engineering and like many software engineers, I frequent the spelling and grammar checker. I frequent it regularly. In fact, my life would be quite tough without it.

Now in software engineering, there's nothing worse than looking at awful code that doesn't follow anything close to a resemblance of normal engineering standards. It's a surreal feeling that has this offensive nauseousness about it. The frustrations are simply indescribable to anybody who hasn't had the misfortune to work in the industry. Now, we software engineers sometimes think we are alone in experiencing these emotions, as perhaps they are the result of our innate pedantic propensities. We think the rest of human species don't suffer as much as we do. I mean who else has to look at spaghetti code?

So, it really made me laugh to hear Lynne Truss describe her innate frustations and intolerance of poor punctuation.
The English language, just like Software Engineering, has a clear logical set of punctuation rules. We just seem too ignorant and lazy to follow them. The English language, again just like Software Engineering, has its purists (or sticklers in Truss lexicon) whose stomachs squelch coming across asinine errors and sooner or later the pedant's affliction will manifest.

Truss navigates through every punctutation edifice. The comma, the apostrophe, the dash and all the usual suspects are explained clearly, succintly and with the utmost deference. Each one getting its own separate chapter. She shows acumen, acuity and peppers explainations with quirky and funny anecdotes of incorrect usage.

But it's Truss' reaction and feelings to poor punctuation that make this book funny. She's absolutely livid. Anyone with even a small bit of pendantry about anything at all will empathise and laugh.

My appreciation English of punctuation grew from reading this book. I'll still make errors - no doubt a few are in this review!
But it's a very good book. My only critism would be that I felt it was a little bit on the short side. A few edits and it would have been no more than an appendix in a grammar book or a good quality dictionary. But you certainly wouldn't get the laughs in such an appendix!

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

Lynne Truss Has Got A Little List, 12 Jan 2008
As someday it may happen that a victim must be found,
She's got a little list -- she's got a little list
Of illiterate offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed -- who never would be missed!
There's the greengrocer's redundant and reviled apostrophe
Granting unapproved possession of the carrot and the pea --
All the dangling expectations when the commas aren't in pairs --
All the chaos that's created in semantical affairs --
All editors eliminating semis from your list --
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

She's got 'em on the list -- she's got 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed -- they'll none of 'em be missed.

There's the muzzy-headed journalist whose phrases roam like sheep,
Who thinks that commas don't exist -- she's got him on her list!
And the pedants whose subordinated clauses bring on sleep,
They never would be missed -- they never would be missed!
There's the manuscript that always gives infuriating pause
By the wrongful punctuation of the inoffensive clause,
And ambiguous intentions when a colon should be placed
But the author for some reason holds that mark in great distaste,
And the cavalier exclaimer who from screaming can't desist --
I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'd not be missed!

She's got him on the list -- she's got him on the list;
And I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'll not be missed!

And the sentences that ought to end but will not mind the stop
So the readers lose the gist -- she's got 'em on the list!
And the badly punctuated placard shilling for a shop,
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed.
And the foes of readability with dashes everywhere,
They inch along in fits and starts, they make you want to swear,
The intolerant authorities whose standards are not yours,
Those moral weaklings oozing indecision from their pores,

It's a stickler's job to see they all are placed upon the list,
For they'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

In homage to THE MIKADO; libretto by W.S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan.

Linda Bulger, 2008

"Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs" - THIS WOMAN DOES NOT REPRESENT US!, 14 Dec 2007
All this shows us is that Lynne Truss really should get out more. I can sort of tolerate the snooty and condesending tone in which it's written (not to mention horrendously boring), but the personification of apostrophes really is a step too far. This book should've been called "An Attack Against Dyslexia, by an Obsessive Compulsive". A good friend of mine, a grammar buff no less, read it thinking it may be something that'd interest him. He too gave up a few pages in describing it as "Just irritating" and concluding "Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs."

Obsolete, 14 Aug 2008
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words may have been useful twenty-five years ago, when it was first published, but it has become redundant. Most entries clarify word spellings and meanings, which a normal dictionary does just as well (with the advantage that it lists all words, not an arbitrary selection). A Google or Yahoo search will instantly clarify the rest, such as corporate names. Grammatical or stylistic advice is rarely given, and adds little to Strunk & White's better-organised and clearer The Elements of Style. And because of the dictionary format, that advice is buried in distant entries and hard to find. Nor does Bryson's manual lend itself to reading `like a novel', even if he wrote it with his customary humour. This is most likely to sit on your shelf.

Masterful and masterly, 25 Feb 2008
Do you put 'spoonsful' or 'spoonfuls' of sugar into tea? Do you know the difference between defining and non-defining clauses and between 'androgynous' and 'androgenous'? Can you tell irony from sarcasm and a 'prophecy' from 'prophesy'? If all of this is second nature, you don't need this book. But you'd probably want to read it anyway.

The great triumph of Troublesome Words is that it's arranged like a dictionary but is interesting enough to read cover to cover as though it were a novel. It projects a sense of personality (Bryson's) and his values: companies' eccentric and convention-defying names - with backward facing letters, for example - should never be allowed to become 'a distraction in print'. It bears the hallmark of Bryson's distinctive style: conversational, witty and taut. All it lacks is a narrative.

Although essentially a work of reference, Brysonisms lighten the way. The entry for 'that' and 'which', for instance, advises brushing up on those clauses, defining and non- . 'Learning these distinctions is not, it must be said, anyone's idea of a good time, but it is one technical aspect of grammar that every professional user of English should understand because it is at the root of an assortment of grammatical errors.' And woe betide anyone who spells 'barbecue' with a 'q' and hyphens because they are clearly 'not ready for unsupervised employment'.

Other books of this type are more famous, authoritative and formidable - those by Fowler and Partridge in particular. But this is actually entertaining as well as instructive, and is also more up to date (and therefore more in touch with contemporary usage). It has my vote, anyway.

Trouble Averted, 01 Aug 2006
"The idea that you cannot use the word 'and' to begin a sentence is entirely without foundation. And that's all there is to it."

So begins one of the entries in this delightfully well-written aid. Unlike some books of this nature that can come across as preachy, pushy and arogant; Bryson's is none of these things. The main thrust of all his arguments is to seek out a common-sense answer to an all-too-common problem. In this venture, he succeeds greatly, delivering sound advice on when to use the right word at the right time.

There seems to have been a resurgence in interest for writing guides recently, but two things make this updated version stand out from a bloated market. Firstly, the fact that he uses actual examples, culled from journalisms' extenxive list of faux pas, to illustrate his points, and secondly, of course, his ever present humour and deft wit. The former makes this book one of the more helpful aids out there, the latter makes the experience intensely pleasurable.

Different Bryson, 15 Jul 2004
To me, a new Bryson makes the whole difference at any airport. Exactly the kind of books I need to keep me from dying of boredom - and they are usually a potent medicine! However, this particular book does not serve that purpose very well, and, indeed, was probably never intended to. Instead it is a very readable A-Z reference book on some of the trickier parts of the English language. Of course, it is very well written and certainly very humourous; somewhat akin to Lynn Truss's "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", even if her scope and approach are different. You will probably appreciate having this book in your book-shelf or, better still, on your desk, if you are at all serious about your writing. If you need a hilarious time-killer, I suggest you look for another Bryson book.

Thorough Read, 15 Jun 2004
Bill certainly summarises well and makes a difficult subject interesting. Unlike a fellow reviewer I would like to compliment Bill rather than complement him!!!

Excellent!, 21 Oct 2008
I bought I Before E and I Used to Know That earlier in the year as I need to brush up spelling, general knowledge etc as my godchildren keep asking me awkward homework questions!!!! I had an email from Amazon recommending this book so for a fiver I thought why not!
Very interesting read, I have to say I opened it with a great deal of fear as I always thought Grammar was a bit of a bore - but this book was both funny and informative - that has to be a first when it comes to Grammar :)
Broken down into basic chapters such as spellings and confusables, sentence structure, punctuation, speech and my own personal favourite odds and sods I now feel I know what I am talking about - hopefully my godchildren will now think I am genius!
This is a lovely book - a very nice Xmas gift I would have thought!

Funny and educational, 26 Mar 2008
This books is far more than its title's amusing amphibology. It's funny, educational and very readable.

I work in software engineering and like many software engineers, I frequent the spelling and grammar checker. I frequent it regularly. In fact, my life would be quite tough without it.

Now in software engineering, there's nothing worse than looking at awful code that doesn't follow anything close to a resemblance of normal engineering standards. It's a surreal feeling that has this offensive nauseousness about it. The frustrations are simply indescribable to anybody who hasn't had the misfortune to work in the industry. Now, we software engineers sometimes think we are alone in experiencing these emotions, as perhaps they are the result of our innate pedantic propensities. We think the rest of human species don't suffer as much as we do. I mean who else has to look at spaghetti code?

So, it really made me laugh to hear Lynne Truss describe her innate frustations and intolerance of poor punctuation.
The English language, just like Software Engineering, has a clear logical set of punctuation rules. We just seem too ignorant and lazy to follow them. The English language, again just like Software Engineering, has its purists (or sticklers in Truss lexicon) whose stomachs squelch coming across asinine errors and sooner or later the pedant's affliction will manifest.

Truss navigates through every punctutation edifice. The comma, the apostrophe, the dash and all the usual suspects are explained clearly, succintly and with the utmost deference. Each one getting its own separate chapter. She shows acumen, acuity and peppers explainations with quirky and funny anecdotes of incorrect usage.

But it's Truss' reaction and feelings to poor punctuation that make this book funny. She's absolutely livid. Anyone with even a small bit of pendantry about anything at all will empathise and laugh.

My appreciation English of punctuation grew from reading this book. I'll still make errors - no doubt a few are in this review!
But it's a very good book. My only critism would be that I felt it was a little bit on the short side. A few edits and it would have been no more than an appendix in a grammar book or a good quality dictionary. But you certainly wouldn't get the laughs in such an appendix!

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

Lynne Truss Has Got A Little List, 12 Jan 2008
As someday it may happen that a victim must be found,
She's got a little list -- she's got a little list
Of illiterate offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed -- who never would be missed!
There's the greengrocer's redundant and reviled apostrophe
Granting unapproved possession of the carrot and the pea --
All the dangling expectations when the commas aren't in pairs --
All the chaos that's created in semantical affairs --
All editors eliminating semis from your list --
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

She's got 'em on the list -- she's got 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed -- they'll none of 'em be missed.

There's the muzzy-headed journalist whose phrases roam like sheep,
Who thinks that commas don't exist -- she's got him on her list!
And the pedants whose subordinated clauses bring on sleep,
They never would be missed -- they never would be missed!
There's the manuscript that always gives infuriating pause
By the wrongful punctuation of the inoffensive clause,
And ambiguous intentions when a colon should be placed
But the author for some reason holds that mark in great distaste,
And the cavalier exclaimer who from screaming can't desist --
I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'd not be missed!

She's got him on the list -- she's got him on the list;
And I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'll not be missed!

And the sentences that ought to end but will not mind the stop
So the readers lose the gist -- she's got 'em on the list!
And the badly punctuated placard shilling for a shop,
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed.
And the foes of readability with dashes everywhere,
They inch along in fits and starts, they make you want to swear,
The intolerant authorities whose standards are not yours,
Those moral weaklings oozing indecision from their pores,

It's a stickler's job to see they all are placed upon the list,
For they'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

In homage to THE MIKADO; libretto by W.S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan.

Linda Bulger, 2008

"Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs" - THIS WOMAN DOES NOT REPRESENT US!, 14 Dec 2007
All this shows us is that Lynne Truss really should get out more. I can sort of tolerate the snooty and condesending tone in which it's written (not to mention horrendously boring), but the personification of apostrophes really is a step too far. This book should've been called "An Attack Against Dyslexia, by an Obsessive Compulsive". A good friend of mine, a grammar buff no less, read it thinking it may be something that'd interest him. He too gave up a few pages in describing it as "Just irritating" and concluding "Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs."

Obsolete, 14 Aug 2008
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words may have been useful twenty-five years ago, when it was first published, but it has become redundant. Most entries clarify word spellings and meanings, which a normal dictionary does just as well (with the advantage that it lists all words, not an arbitrary selection). A Google or Yahoo search will instantly clarify the rest, such as corporate names. Grammatical or stylistic advice is rarely given, and adds little to Strunk & White's better-organised and clearer The Elements of Style. And because of the dictionary format, that advice is buried in distant entries and hard to find. Nor does Bryson's manual lend itself to reading `like a novel', even if he wrote it with his customary humour. This is most likely to sit on your shelf.

Masterful and masterly, 25 Feb 2008
Do you put 'spoonsful' or 'spoonfuls' of sugar into tea? Do you know the difference between defining and non-defining clauses and between 'androgynous' and 'androgenous'? Can you tell irony from sarcasm and a 'prophecy' from 'prophesy'? If all of this is second nature, you don't need this book. But you'd probably want to read it anyway.

The great triumph of Troublesome Words is that it's arranged like a dictionary but is interesting enough to read cover to cover as though it were a novel. It projects a sense of personality (Bryson's) and his values: companies' eccentric and convention-defying names - with backward facing letters, for example - should never be allowed to become 'a distraction in print'. It bears the hallmark of Bryson's distinctive style: conversational, witty and taut. All it lacks is a narrative.

Although essentially a work of reference, Brysonisms lighten the way. The entry for 'that' and 'which', for instance, advises brushing up on those clauses, defining and non- . 'Learning these distinctions is not, it must be said, anyone's idea of a good time, but it is one technical aspect of grammar that every professional user of English should understand because it is at the root of an assortment of grammatical errors.' And woe betide anyone who spells 'barbecue' with a 'q' and hyphens because they are clearly 'not ready for unsupervised employment'.

Other books of this type are more famous, authoritative and formidable - those by Fowler and Partridge in particular. But this is actually entertaining as well as instructive, and is also more up to date (and therefore more in touch with contemporary usage). It has my vote, anyway.

Trouble Averted, 01 Aug 2006
"The idea that you cannot use the word 'and' to begin a sentence is entirely without foundation. And that's all there is to it."

So begins one of the entries in this delightfully well-written aid. Unlike some books of this nature that can come across as preachy, pushy and arogant; Bryson's is none of these things. The main thrust of all his arguments is to seek out a common-sense answer to an all-too-common problem. In this venture, he succeeds greatly, delivering sound advice on when to use the right word at the right time.

There seems to have been a resurgence in interest for writing guides recently, but two things make this updated version stand out from a bloated market. Firstly, the fact that he uses actual examples, culled from journalisms' extenxive list of faux pas, to illustrate his points, and secondly, of course, his ever present humour and deft wit. The former makes this book one of the more helpful aids out there, the latter makes the experience intensely pleasurable.

Different Bryson, 15 Jul 2004
To me, a new Bryson makes the whole difference at any airport. Exactly the kind of books I need to keep me from dying of boredom - and they are usually a potent medicine! However, this particular book does not serve that purpose very well, and, indeed, was probably never intended to. Instead it is a very readable A-Z reference book on some of the trickier parts of the English language. Of course, it is very well written and certainly very humourous; somewhat akin to Lynn Truss's "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", even if her scope and approach are different. You will probably appreciate having this book in your book-shelf or, better still, on your desk, if you are at all serious about your writing. If you need a hilarious time-killer, I suggest you look for another Bryson book.

Thorough Read, 15 Jun 2004
Bill certainly summarises well and makes a difficult subject interesting. Unlike a fellow reviewer I would like to compliment Bill rather than complement him!!!

The best guide, 11 Oct 2008
The best guide to punctuation available. I'd read a number of guides to this subject and I still wasn't completely clear on some points until I came across this excellent book. It's crystal clear and very easy to read and use. I wish this had been the first punctuation guide I'd read: I would have saved myself both time and money. The book covers a number of areas that I didn't expect but found very useful, such as referencing and how to lay out reports.

I've since read a number of R.L. Trask's books and they're all outstanding. 'Language: The Basics' is brilliant. He's a truly talented writer and communicator. I wish more academics could write and explain ideas like Mr Trask.

The single most helpful reference book on English punctuation and related topics, 15 Jul 2008
As a native German and long-time anglophile I had been looking for something like this for ages. The author manages to convey his insights without any hint of intellectual stiffness or arrogance. At the same time one gets the impression he knows what he is talking about. But he is not dogmatic, either. He will freely acknowledge when his view differs from, say, common usage at publishing houses.
At the end of each chapter, there is a summary of the most important/basic rules for quick reference.
The "Penguin Guide to Punctuation" is highly informative as well as fun to read. Language scholarship at its best put to practical use. Highly recommended.

Nice book to learn or 're-learn' your punctuation..., 15 Mar 2008
This is a nice little book to get you started or even refresh your memory on correct punctuation. It's a nice and easy book to read through and, though a mere 160 pages or so, very comprehensive, covering all you will need to know about punctuation. I've just quickly read through it today, but will read through it in more detail at my leisure in the hope of purging some of my many bad writing habits. Recommended.

Splendid book , 11 Mar 2008
This is the best book on punctuation that I know. Each punctuation mark is very well explained. However, to be brief, I will comment only on how professor Trask explains the use of the comma. He says that there are only four uses of the comma. He lists the four uses (the only four) of the comma and then presents a test designed to help you to decide for yourself if a comma is used properly or not. Sometimes it is hard to apply the test. For example consider the following sentence that you can find on page 39 of the book. "The situation is clear: if you have unprotected sex with a stranger, you risk AIDS." Now try to apply professor Trask test to decide if the comma in this sentence is correct or not. I have tried the test in other examples and found it very easy to use. This should be compared with the, also excellent, approach by professor Anne Stilman in the book "Grammatically correct". She lists six rules on how to use the comma each rule with several sub cases. I personally prefer professor Trask approach. The approach to the comma example is the same to the other punctuation marks. Every one of them is carefully explained in probably the most concise away.

Best English lesson ever, 01 May 2007
Punctuation is the most confusing part of grammar for writers.

This book details the correct usage for each punctuation, in a way that a thirteen year old would understand.

Most definitely the best English lesson I have had.

If you only buy one book on writing/grammar, than I advise you to buy this one.

Excellent!, 21 Oct 2008
I bought I Before E and I Used to Know That earlier in the year as I need to brush up spelling, general knowledge etc as my godchildren keep asking me awkward homework questions!!!! I had an email from Amazon recommending this book so for a fiver I thought why not!
Very interesting read, I have to say I opened it with a great deal of fear as I always thought Grammar was a bit of a bore - but this book was both funny and informative - that has to be a first when it comes to Grammar :)
Broken down into basic chapters such as spellings and confusables, sentence structure, punctuation, speech and my own personal favourite odds and sods I now feel I know what I am talking about - hopefully my godchildren will now think I am genius!
This is a lovely book - a very nice Xmas gift I would have thought!

Funny and educational, 26 Mar 2008
This books is far more than its title's amusing amphibology. It's funny, educational and very readable.

I work in software engineering and like many software engineers, I frequent the spelling and grammar checker. I frequent it regularly. In fact, my life would be quite tough without it.

Now in software engineering, there's nothing worse than looking at awful code that doesn't follow anything close to a resemblance of normal engineering standards. It's a surreal feeling that has this offensive nauseousness about it. The frustrations are simply indescribable to anybody who hasn't had the misfortune to work in the industry. Now, we software engineers sometimes think we are alone in experiencing these emotions, as perhaps they are the result of our innate pedantic propensities. We think the rest of human species don't suffer as much as we do. I mean who else has to look at spaghetti code?

So, it really made me laugh to hear Lynne Truss describe her innate frustations and intolerance of poor punctuation.
The English language, just like Software Engineering, has a clear logical set of punctuation rules. We just seem too ignorant and lazy to follow them. The English language, again just like Software Engineering, has its purists (or sticklers in Truss lexicon) whose stomachs squelch coming across asinine errors and sooner or later the pedant's affliction will manifest.

Truss navigates through every punctutation edifice. The comma, the apostrophe, the dash and all the usual suspects are explained clearly, succintly and with the utmost deference. Each one getting its own separate chapter. She shows acumen, acuity and peppers explainations with quirky and funny anecdotes of incorrect usage.

But it's Truss' reaction and feelings to poor punctuation that make this book funny. She's absolutely livid. Anyone with even a small bit of pendantry about anything at all will empathise and laugh.

My appreciation English of punctuation grew from reading this book. I'll still make errors - no doubt a few are in this review!
But it's a very good book. My only critism would be that I felt it was a little bit on the short side. A few edits and it would have been no more than an appendix in a grammar book or a good quality dictionary. But you certainly wouldn't get the laughs in such an appendix!

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

Lynne Truss Has Got A Little List, 12 Jan 2008
As someday it may happen that a victim must be found,
She's got a little list -- she's got a little list
Of illiterate offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed -- who never would be missed!
There's the greengrocer's redundant and reviled apostrophe
Granting unapproved possession of the carrot and the pea --
All the dangling expectations when the commas aren't in pairs --
All the chaos that's created in semantical affairs --
All editors eliminating semis from your list --
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

She's got 'em on the list -- she's got 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed -- they'll none of 'em be missed.

There's the muzzy-headed journalist whose phrases roam like sheep,
Who thinks that commas don't exist -- she's got him on her list!
And the pedants whose subordinated clauses bring on sleep,
They never would be missed -- they never would be missed!
There's the manuscript that always gives infuriating pause
By the wrongful punctuation of the inoffensive clause,
And ambiguous intentions when a colon should be placed
But the author for some reason holds that mark in great distaste,
And the cavalier exclaimer who from screaming can't desist --
I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'd not be missed!

She's got him on the list -- she's got him on the list;
And I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'll not be missed!

And the sentences that ought to end but will not mind the stop
So the readers lose the gist -- she's got 'em on the list!
And the badly punctuated placard shilling for a shop,
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed.
And the foes of readability with dashes everywhere,
They inch along in fits and starts, they make you want to swear,
The intolerant authorities whose standards are not yours,
Those moral weaklings oozing indecision from their pores,

It's a stickler's job to see they all are placed upon the list,
For they'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

In homage to THE MIKADO; libretto by W.S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan.

Linda Bulger, 2008

"Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs" - THIS WOMAN DOES NOT REPRESENT US!, 14 Dec 2007
All this shows us is that Lynne Truss really should get out more. I can sort of tolerate the snooty and condesending tone in which it's written (not to mention horrendously boring), but the personification of apostrophes really is a step too far. This book should've been called "An Attack Against Dyslexia, by an Obsessive Compulsive". A good friend of mine, a grammar buff no less, read it thinking it may be something that'd interest him. He too gave up a few pages in describing it as "Just irritating" and concluding "Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs."

Obsolete, 14 Aug 2008
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words may have been useful twenty-five years ago, when it was first published, but it has become redundant. Most entries clarify word spellings and meanings, which a normal dictionary does just as well (with the advantage that it lists all words, not an arbitrary selection). A Google or Yahoo search will instantly clarify the rest, such as corporate names. Grammatical or stylistic advice is rarely given, and adds little to Strunk & White's better-organised and clearer The Elements of Style. And because of the dictionary format, that advice is buried in distant entries and hard to find. Nor does Bryson's manual lend itself to reading `like a novel', even if he wrote it with his customary humour. This is most likely to sit on your shelf.

Masterful and masterly, 25 Feb 2008
Do you put 'spoonsful' or 'spoonfuls' of sugar into tea? Do you know the difference between defining and non-defining clauses and between 'androgynous' and 'androgenous'? Can you tell irony from sarcasm and a 'prophecy' from 'prophesy'? If all of this is second nature, you don't need this book. But you'd probably want to read it anyway.

The great triumph of Troublesome Words is that it's arranged like a dictionary but is interesting enough to read cover to cover as though it were a novel. It projects a sense of personality (Bryson's) and his values: companies' eccentric and convention-defying names - with backward facing letters, for example - should never be allowed to become 'a distraction in print'. It bears the hallmark of Bryson's distinctive style: conversational, witty and taut. All it lacks is a narrative.

Although essentially a work of reference, Brysonisms lighten the way. The entry for 'that' and 'which', for instance, advises brushing up on those clauses, defining and non- . 'Learning these distinctions is not, it must be said, anyone's idea of a good time, but it is one technical aspect of grammar that every professional user of English should understand because it is at the root of an assortment of grammatical errors.' And woe betide anyone who spells 'barbecue' with a 'q' and hyphens because they are clearly 'not ready for unsupervised employment'.

Other books of this type are more famous, authoritative and formidable - those by Fowler and Partridge in particular. But this is actually entertaining as well as instructive, and is also more up to date (and therefore more in touch with contemporary usage). It has my vote, anyway.

Trouble Averted, 01 Aug 2006
"The idea that you cannot use the word 'and' to begin a sentence is entirely without foundation. And that's all there is to it."

So begins one of the entries in this delightfully well-written aid. Unlike some books of this nature that can come across as preachy, pushy and arogant; Bryson's is none of these things. The main thrust of all his arguments is to seek out a common-sense answer to an all-too-common problem. In this venture, he succeeds greatly, delivering sound advice on when to use the right word at the right time.

There seems to have been a resurgence in interest for writing guides recently, but two things make this updated version stand out from a bloated market. Firstly, the fact that he uses actual examples, culled from journalisms' extenxive list of faux pas, to illustrate his points, and secondly, of course, his ever present humour and deft wit. The former makes this book one of the more helpful aids out there, the latter makes the experience intensely pleasurable.

Different Bryson, 15 Jul 2004
To me, a new Bryson makes the whole difference at any airport. Exactly the kind of books I need to keep me from dying of boredom - and they are usually a potent medicine! However, this particular book does not serve that purpose very well, and, indeed, was probably never intended to. Instead it is a very readable A-Z reference book on some of the trickier parts of the English language. Of course, it is very well written and certainly very humourous; somewhat akin to Lynn Truss's "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", even if her scope and approach are different. You will probably appreciate having this book in your book-shelf or, better still, on your desk, if you are at all serious about your writing. If you need a hilarious time-killer, I suggest you look for another Bryson book.

Thorough Read, 15 Jun 2004
Bill certainly summarises well and makes a difficult subject interesting. Unlike a fellow reviewer I would like to compliment Bill rather than complement him!!!

The best guide, 11 Oct 2008
The best guide to punctuation available. I'd read a number of guides to this subject and I still wasn't completely clear on some points until I came across this excellent book. It's crystal clear and very easy to read and use. I wish this had been the first punctuation guide I'd read: I would have saved myself both time and money. The book covers a number of areas that I didn't expect but found very useful, such as referencing and how to lay out reports.

I've since read a number of R.L. Trask's books and they're all outstanding. 'Language: The Basics' is brilliant. He's a truly talented writer and communicator. I wish more academics could write and explain ideas like Mr Trask.

The single most helpful reference book on English punctuation and related topics, 15 Jul 2008
As a native German and long-time anglophile I had been looking for something like this for ages. The author manages to convey his insights without any hint of intellectual stiffness or arrogance. At the same time one gets the impression he knows what he is talking about. But he is not dogmatic, either. He will freely acknowledge when his view differs from, say, common usage at publishing houses.
At the end of each chapter, there is a summary of the most important/basic rules for quick reference.
The "Penguin Guide to Punctuation" is highly informative as well as fun to read. Language scholarship at its best put to practical use. Highly recommended.

Nice book to learn or 're-learn' your punctuation..., 15 Mar 2008
This is a nice little book to get you started or even refresh your memory on correct punctuation. It's a nice and easy book to read through and, though a mere 160 pages or so, very comprehensive, covering all you will need to know about punctuation. I've just quickly read through it today, but will read through it in more detail at my leisure in the hope of purging some of my many bad writing habits. Recommended.

Splendid book , 11 Mar 2008
This is the best book on punctuation that I know. Each punctuation mark is very well explained. However, to be brief, I will comment only on how professor Trask explains the use of the comma. He says that there are only four uses of the comma. He lists the four uses (the only four) of the comma and then presents a test designed to help you to decide for yourself if a comma is used properly or not. Sometimes it is hard to apply the test. For example consider the following sentence that you can find on page 39 of the book. "The situation is clear: if you have unprotected sex with a stranger, you risk AIDS." Now try to apply professor Trask test to decide if the comma in this sentence is correct or not. I have tried the test in other examples and found it very easy to use. This should be compared with the, also excellent, approach by professor Anne Stilman in the book "Grammatically correct". She lists six rules on how to use the comma each rule with several sub cases. I personally prefer professor Trask approach. The approach to the comma example is the same to the other punctuation marks. Every one of them is carefully explained in probably the most concise away.

Best English lesson ever, 01 May 2007
Punctuation is the most confusing part of grammar for writers.

This book details the correct usage for each punctuation, in a way that a thirteen year old would understand.

Most definitely the best English lesson I have had.

If you only buy one book on writing/grammar, than I advise you to buy this one.

An essential buy, 09 Nov 2007
I passed my literacy test this week using this book. The book covers every area of the test plus other common misconceptions. The book also includes practice questions which are very similar to the test questions.Would reccommend to anyone doing the TDA tests.

Extremely useful and accessible., 23 Apr 2004
I've just passed all three of the QTS skills tests today, and I know Iwould not have been able to do the literacy test without this little book. It has all you need to know, and is very accessible. The book explainsthe basics you will need to know, providing many examples and practicequestions. Highly recommended for any trainee teacher as the book willreinforce your existing skills and help you to gain new ones, giving youthe confidence to take, and pass, the QTS skills tests.

A real help, 17 Dec 2003
This book covers all the areas of the test - spelling, punctuation, comprehension and grammar. Each section goes over the knowledge you will be tested on and provides questions similar to those that will appear in the test. There is a good answers section which provides extra explanation for the difficult questions.

All-in-all a very good purchase for any trainee teacher taking the test!

Most newspapers and magazines issue their contributors with a style guide. Writers, be they on staff or freelance, then know whether a publication's house style requires % or per cent or commas in dates. Sometimes it's just a tatty sheet of typed A4 but since 1986 The Economist has developed its stylish Style Guide, through six editions, into a full length reference book.

Because English is such a vast and continuously evolving language--its vocabulary is double that of French and more than three times larger than German--it is open to multifarious use and all the old arguments about correctness or lack of it. The Economist unequivocally sets out its version of what is acceptable and why, usually conforming to Fowler's Modern English Usage and other good guides to getting it right. It also refutes dozens of common errors, stating firmly, for example, that "Data are plural" and that "Any one refers to a number; anyone to anybody."

Since its style guide is set out in such detail, it makes sense to publish it for the rest of the world, most of whom are not writers for The Economist but who simply want a succinctly witty guide to writing accurately. The first section focuses on minutiae such as distinguishing between a "little-used car" and a "little used-car". It also insists that "to never split an infinitive is quite easy" and, in English so impeccable that you have to read it twice to be sure, that "Frankenstein was not a monster, but his creator." After a section setting out rules governing American and British English this handy reference book provides a miscellany of useful information including abbreviations, currencies, calendars and conversions for metric and imperial measurements. --Susan Elkin

Excellent!, 21 Oct 2008
I bought I Before E and I Used to Know That earlier in the year as I need to brush up spelling, general knowledge etc as my godchildren keep asking me awkward homework questions!!!! I had an email from Amazon recommending this book so for a fiver I thought why not!
Very interesting read, I have to say I opened it with a great deal of fear as I always thought Grammar was a bit of a bore - but this book was both funny and informative - that has to be a first when it comes to Grammar :)
Broken down into basic chapters such as spellings and confusables, sentence structure, punctuation, speech and my own personal favourite odds and sods I now feel I know what I am talking about - hopefully my godchildren will now think I am genius!
This is a lovely book - a very nice Xmas gift I would have thought!

Funny and educational, 26 Mar 2008
This books is far more than its title's amusing amphibology. It's funny, educational and very readable.

I work in software engineering and like many software engineers, I frequent the spelling and grammar checker. I frequent it regularly. In fact, my life would be quite tough without it.

Now in software engineering, there's nothing worse than looking at awful code that doesn't follow anything close to a resemblance of normal engineering standards. It's a surreal feeling that has this offensive nauseousness about it. The frustrations are simply indescribable to anybody who hasn't had the misfortune to work in the industry. Now, we software engineers sometimes think we are alone in experiencing these emotions, as perhaps they are the result of our innate pedantic propensities. We think the rest of human species don't suffer as much as we do. I mean who else has to look at spaghetti code?

So, it really made me laugh to hear Lynne Truss describe her innate frustations and intolerance of poor punctuation.
The English language, just like Software Engineering, has a clear logical set of punctuation rules. We just seem too ignorant and lazy to follow them. The English language, again just like Software Engineering, has its purists (or sticklers in Truss lexicon) whose stomachs squelch coming across asinine errors and sooner or later the pedant's affliction will manifest.

Truss navigates through every punctutation edifice. The comma, the apostrophe, the dash and all the usual suspects are explained clearly, succintly and with the utmost deference. Each one getting its own separate chapter. She shows acumen, acuity and peppers explainations with quirky and funny anecdotes of incorrect usage.

But it's Truss' reaction and feelings to poor punctuation that make this book funny. She's absolutely livid. Anyone with even a small bit of pendantry about anything at all will empathise and laugh.

My appreciation English of punctuation grew from reading this book. I'll still make errors - no doubt a few are in this review!
But it's a very good book. My only critism would be that I felt it was a little bit on the short side. A few edits and it would have been no more than an appendix in a grammar book or a good quality dictionary. But you certainly wouldn't get the laughs in such an appendix!

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way, 28 Jan 2008
How does a book about how to use commas and colons properly have lodged itself at No 1 on bestseller lists? Maybe Lynne Truss' books success shows that it is not just a few reactionaries who care. Truss agrees it's selling off the internet and stickler-types probably don't do their shopping on the internet. Lynne Truss wonders if there might be readers whose higher education has given them at least a guilty conscience about what they have not been taught, suddenly thinking that perhaps it does matter and I wouldn't mind knowing this stuff. Those copies stacked in Waterstone's might show that there are plenty of people who want to be, as Lynne Truss puts it, 'virtuous'.

While Truss says that 'despair' gave this book its impetus, she does not sound despairing either in print or in person. The title itself is a joke, about an irate panda who walks into a cafe, orders a sandwich, eats it, draws a gun and fires two shots into the air. The waiter finds the explanation for this erratic behavior in a badly punctuated wildlife manual which the bear leaves behind: Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! tells you the rules, but is also full of jokes and anecdotes. It is a sort of celebration of punctuation. You can't help cheering it on, because it has done such a good job in its humble way. She speaks of the delights of the semi-colon with relish. She has listened to the man from the Apostrophe Protection Society (yes, it exists) but does not sound like a member of any such group. "I was so worried when I wrote the book that people would assume that anyone interested in this subject would be small-minded". --Lynne Truss.

I don't really know where punctuation is going. But this is a very good moment to look at it and see what state it's in. The internet and emails have come along very conveniently for people who didn't learn punctuation and can therefore get by. Punctuation helps give rhythm and a tone of voice to writing, and Truss thinks it no accident that readers of emails often find it difficult to pick up the tone of the person who's written it, with all those dashes. The grace notes get lopped off and it becomes very bald. So people start needing exclamation marks and capital letters, desperately trying to express a tone of voice.

Lynne Truss Has Got A Little List, 12 Jan 2008
As someday it may happen that a victim must be found,
She's got a little list -- she's got a little list
Of illiterate offenders who might well be underground,
And who never would be missed -- who never would be missed!
There's the greengrocer's redundant and reviled apostrophe
Granting unapproved possession of the carrot and the pea --
All the dangling expectations when the commas aren't in pairs --
All the chaos that's created in semantical affairs --
All editors eliminating semis from your list --
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

She's got 'em on the list -- she's got 'em on the list;
And they'll none of 'em be missed -- they'll none of 'em be missed.

There's the muzzy-headed journalist whose phrases roam like sheep,
Who thinks that commas don't exist -- she's got him on her list!
And the pedants whose subordinated clauses bring on sleep,
They never would be missed -- they never would be missed!
There's the manuscript that always gives infuriating pause
By the wrongful punctuation of the inoffensive clause,
And ambiguous intentions when a colon should be placed
But the author for some reason holds that mark in great distaste,
And the cavalier exclaimer who from screaming can't desist --
I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'd not be missed!

She's got him on the list -- she's got him on the list;
And I don't think he'd be missed -- I'm sure he'll not be missed!

And the sentences that ought to end but will not mind the stop
So the readers lose the gist -- she's got 'em on the list!
And the badly punctuated placard shilling for a shop,
They'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed.
And the foes of readability with dashes everywhere,
They inch along in fits and starts, they make you want to swear,
The intolerant authorities whose standards are not yours,
Those moral weaklings oozing indecision from their pores,

It's a stickler's job to see they all are placed upon the list,
For they'd none of 'em be missed -- they'd none of 'em be missed!

In homage to THE MIKADO; libretto by W.S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan.

Linda Bulger, 2008

"Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs" - THIS WOMAN DOES NOT REPRESENT US!, 14 Dec 2007
All this shows us is that Lynne Truss really should get out more. I can sort of tolerate the snooty and condesending tone in which it's written (not to mention horrendously boring), but the personification of apostrophes really is a step too far. This book should've been called "An Attack Against Dyslexia, by an Obsessive Compulsive". A good friend of mine, a grammar buff no less, read it thinking it may be something that'd interest him. He too gave up a few pages in describing it as "Just irritating" and concluding "Lynne Truss brings shame to grammar buffs."

Obsolete, 14 Aug 2008
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words may have been useful twenty-five years ago, when it was first published, but it has become redundant. Most entries clarify word spellings and meanings, which a normal dictionary does just as well (with the advantage that it lists all words, not an arbitrary selection). A Google or Yahoo search will instantly clarify the rest, such as corporate names. Grammatical or stylistic advice is rarely given, and adds little to Strunk & White's better-organised and clearer The Elements of Style. And because of the dictionary format, that advice is buried in distant entries and hard to find. Nor does Bryson's manual lend itself to reading `like a novel', even if he wrote it with his customary humour. This is most likely to sit on your shelf.

Masterful and masterly, 25 Feb 2008
Do you put 'spoonsful' or 'spoonfuls' of sugar into tea? Do you know the difference between defining and non-defining clauses and between 'androgynous' and 'androgenous'? Can you tell irony from sarcasm and a 'prophecy' from 'prophesy'? If all of this is second nature, you don't need this book. But you'd probably want to read it anyway.

The great triumph of Troublesome Words is that it's arranged like a dictionary but is interesting enough to read cover to cover as though it were a novel. It projects a sense of personality (Bryson's) and his values: companies' eccentric and convention-defying names - with backward facing letters, for example - should never be allowed to become 'a distraction in print'. It bears the hallmark of Bryson's distinctive style: conversational, witty and taut. All it lacks is a narrative.

Although essentially a work of reference, Brysonisms lighten the way. The entry for 'that' and 'which', for instance, advises brushing up on those clauses, defining and non- . 'Learning these distinctions is not, it must be said, anyone's idea of a good time, but it is one technical aspect of grammar that every professional user of English should understand because it is at the root of an assortment of grammatical errors.' And woe betide anyone who spells 'barbecue' with a 'q' and hyphens because they are clearly 'not ready for unsupervised employment'.

Other books of this type are more famous, authoritative and formidable - those by Fowler and Partridge in particular. But this is actually entertaining as well as instructive, and is also more up to date (and therefore more in touch with contemporary usage). It has my vote, anyway.

Trouble Averted, 01 Aug 2006
"The idea that you cannot use the word 'and' to begin a sentence is entirely without foundation. And that's all there is to it."

So begins one of the entries in this delightfully well-written aid. Unlike some books of this nature that can come across as preachy, pushy and arogant; Bryson's is none of these things. The main thrust of all his arguments is to seek out a common-sense answer to an all-too-common problem. In this venture, he succeeds greatly, delivering sound advice on when to use the right word at the right time.

There seems to have been a resurgence in interest for writing guides recently, but two things make this updated version stand out from a bloated market. Firstly, the fact that he uses actual examples, culled from journalisms' extenxive list of faux pas, to illustrate his points, and secondly, of course, his ever present humour and deft wit. The former makes this book one of the more helpful aids out there, the latter makes the experience intensely pleasurable.

Different Bryson, 15 Jul 2004
To me, a new Bryson makes the whole difference at any airport. Exactly the kind of books I need to keep me from dying of boredom - and they are usually a potent medicine! However, this particular book does not serve that purpose very well, and, indeed, was probably never intended to. Instead it is a very readable A-Z reference book on some of the trickier parts of the English language. Of course, it is very well written and certainly very humourous; somewhat akin to Lynn Truss's "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", even if her scope and approach are different. You will probably appreciate having this book in your book-shelf or, better still, on your desk, if you are at all serious about your writing. If you need a hilarious time-killer, I suggest you look for another Bryson book.

Thorough Read, 15 Jun 2004
Bill certainly summarises well and makes a difficult subject interesting. Unlike a fellow reviewer I would like to compliment Bill rather than complement him!!!

The best guide, 11 Oct 2008
The best guide to punctuation available. I'd read a number of guides to this subject and I still wasn't completely clear on some points until I came across this excellent book. It's crystal clear and very easy to read and use. I wish this had been the first punctuation guide I'd read: I would have saved myself both time and money. The book covers a number of areas that I didn't expect but found very useful, such as referencing and how to lay out reports.

I've since read a number of R.L. Trask's books and they're all outstanding. 'Language: The Basics' is brilliant. He's a truly talented writer and communicator. I wish more academics could write and explain ideas like Mr Trask.

The single most helpful reference book on English punctuation and related topics, 15 Jul 2008
As a native German and long-time anglophile I had been looking for something like this for ages. The author manages to convey his insights without any hint of intellectual stiffness or arrogance. At the same time one gets the impression he knows what he is talking about. But he is not dogmatic, either. He will freely acknowledge when his view differs from, say, common usage at publishing houses.
At the end of each chapter, there is a summary of the most important/basic rules for quick reference.
The "Penguin Guide to Punctuation" is highly informative as well as fun to read. Language scholarship at its best put to practical use. Highly recommended.

Nice book to learn or 're-learn' your punctuation..., 15 Mar 2008
This is a nice little book to get you started or even refresh your memory on correct punctuation. It's a nice and easy book to read through and, though a mere 160 pages or so, very comprehensive, covering all you will need to know about punctuation. I've just quickly read through it today, but will read through it in more detail at my leisure in the hope of purging some of my many bad writing habits. Recommended.

Splendid book , 11 Mar 2008
This is the best book on punctuation that I know. Each punctuation mark is very well explained. However, to be brief, I will comment only on how professor Trask explains the use of the comma. He says that there are only four uses of the comma. He lists the four uses (the only four) of the comma and then presents a test designed to help you to decide for yourself if a comma is used properly or not. Sometimes it is hard to apply the test. For example consider the following sentence that you can find on page 39 of the book. "The situation is clear: if you have unprotected sex with a stranger, you risk AIDS." Now try to apply professor Trask test to decide if the comma in this sentence is correct or not. I have tried the test in other examples and found it very easy to use. This should be compared with the, also excellent, approach by professor Anne Stilman in the book "Grammatically correct". She lists six rules on how to use the comma each rule with several sub cases. I personally prefer professor Trask approach. The approach to the comma example is the same to the other punctuation marks. Every one of them is carefully explained in probably the most concise away.

Best English lesson ever, 01 May 2007
Punctuation is the most confusing part of grammar for writers.

This book details the correct usage for each punctuation, in a way that a thirteen year old would understand.

Most definitely the best English lesson I have had.

If you only buy one book on writing/grammar, than I advise you to buy this one.

An essential buy, 09 Nov 2007
I passed my literacy test this week using this book. The book covers every area of the test plus other common misconceptions. The book also includes practice questions which are very similar to the test questions.Would reccommend to anyone doing the TDA tests.

Extremely useful and accessible., 23 Apr 2004
I've just passed all three of the QTS skills tests today, and I know Iwould not have been able to do the literacy test without this little book. It has all you need to know, and is very accessible. The book explainsthe basics you will need to know, providing many examples and practicequestions. Highly recommended for any trainee teacher as the book willreinforce your existing skills and help you to gain new ones, giving youthe confidence to take, and pass, the QTS skills tests.

A real help, 17 Dec 2003
This book covers all the areas of the test - spelling, punctuation, comprehension and grammar. Each section goes over the knowledge you will be tested on and provides questions similar to those that will appear in the test. There is a good answers section which provides extra explanation for the difficult questions.

All-in-all a very good purchase for any trainee teacher taking the test!

If it is possible to cut out a word, cut it out, 05 Apr 2008
The title I have used is the third of George Orwell's "six elementary rules" to writing good English. These six rules still have a prominent place in this book's introduction, although there are now many more, gleaned from and generally attributed to other writers. This, to come to the point immediately, is my only criticism of The Economist's Style Guide. In its ninth edition, it must be more than twice the length of the one I bought in the early 90s (and now lost - probably lent to someone). The extra length detracts, I think, from the clarity of the stylistic advice, confusing it with detail, e.g. distinguishing flaunt from flount, numerous entries on currencies and the writing of nationalities. Much of the detail is relevant only to those writing on global politics and economics, although the core principles apply to everyone writing in the hope of being read, or read with pleasure!

It is perhaps unfair, though, to criticise this book for being too much of a good thing. It purports to be the actual style guide used by The Economist's journalists, and I am sure that that is just what it was (but that the current version is a little longer again). It is particularly good on he differences between American and British English, and how one can find words and expressions that are unobjectionable in both. It is humorously written - although if you want a more humorous differentiation of words you might try that redoubtable (Anglo-?)American Bill Bryson's "Troublesome Words". (Mr Bryson has however given the book a generous commendation, quoted on its back cover.) It is an excellent reference source - although if that is what you are after some of The Economist's other publications will give you much more of the same. It is a great guide to writing in the crisp style that characterises The Economist, although it does not differentiate where it is explaining gramatical correctness from those instances of where it is merely advising an approach (and where others would be equally correct).

This is a great reference book for the wordsmith - I, however, would appreciate an abridged version that presented the core issues with fewer distractions, rather like its earlier editions.



Essential guide, 24 Oct 2007
This is a very useful publication if you are writing, editing or, like me, designing publications. On many subjects it is definitive, others are more subjective and you can make your own determination... the important thing is to have a style guide and follow it consistently. Not only will this lend consistency to your production, it will shortcut many an argument and support your sanity in the face of impending deadlines.

Lives on my desk, not my shelf, 27 Aug 2007
If you're under the impression that the Economist has started giving out fashion advice, then this book is not for you.

If you are reading this review, then I hope you know what a Style Guide is. The Economist has gained a reputation for clear communication, and the Style Guide is part of that.

I'm not a journalist, but writing about financial matters is something I need to do as part of my professional life. Having a single reference that can answer questions like "on-line or online" for me has been very useful.

This is not a book that seeks to debate on the merits of different styles of written prose, but lays out, clearly, the style recommended for those writing for one publication.

The Economist's style isn't always appropriate - in organisations that prefer a "conversational marketing" approach, a more discursive style may be appropriate. However, having a consistent set of ground rules can be useful.

Oh, and the Style Guide not only explains what ground rules are, confirming that my usage was correct, but prevented me from just hyphenating the term in this review.

A must for any bookshelf, 26 Oct 2005
I own 2 editions of this book, the first from 1986.

The later version has more reference material than the first but I was a tad disappointed by the lower quality paper used in this version.

That said, this is a great book for anyone who has to write reports or essays and clarifies many grammatical problems, something to which I am emminently prone.

You will also find this to be a valuable general reference book!

Excellent in what it covers, but..., 22 Oct 2005
Excellent glossaries e.g. of proper names that have changed over recent years (UKraine, not the Ukraine; Beijing, not Peking) and of currencies.

Excellent for pointing out fuzzy thinking in your writing and for exposing the emptiness of certain cliches.

Perfect for journalistic purposes; less exhaustive for academic writing or other formal writing.

Beware: many of the recommendations are Economist house style and are not standard British English (e.g. small capitals for all abbreviations).

You will need Oxford: New Hart's Rules (now contained in the Oxford Style Manual) for a full examination of the punctuation of quotations, since the Guide applies journalistic conventions, in which the standard rules of British English puncutation are often reversed.