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erika_is_reading's review
4.0
This is funny as hell. I do not agree with everything in the book (for instance, "data" takes a plural verb, and that is a hill I will die on), but nearly everything is spot-on for legal writing. And his delivery makes me wish desperately to invite him to a cocktail party, one that might also feature, oh, I don't know, Gertrude Stein, Winston Churchill, and Dorothy Parker. And Shirley Jackson, just to make him happy. He's delightfully entertaining. He was a little too self-indulgent at times with his own writing, sacrificing punch for cleverness, but he nevertheless produced a four-star read that made me laugh out loud in places. Bravo!
stuffsamdoes_'s review
3.0
Some things were laughable, but for the most part, had a hard time finding this funny.
giottoblue's review against another edition
5.0
Did I just read a 265 page book about grammar in one sitting? What has boarding school done to me?
jennifermreads's review
5.0
This was dropped in my Twitter timeline as part of the wonderful, year-end #libfaves18 thread (thank you, Robin, who was first to mention it). I first thought “I am NOT going to read a grammar book. Boring!” Then I started perusing the author’s Twitter account and I thought “Well, maybe I will. I like this guy’s humor.” Then the book popped up in my timeline again, randomly, and I spoke with the gal at work who collects the nonfiction. She put in a purchase request for me and I began the wait for publication & then the library cataloging/shelf-prep process. When publication day came, my timeline exploded with comments about the book and I said “That’s it. I’m buying the dang book and reading it NOW.” Those who know my book collecting habits know that purchasing the book is a high compliment and this is also a testament to how powerful the Tweets were about this book: they made me go buy it!
I settled in with Post-its at the ready. By page 14, I already had flagged 14 passages of wisdom, “do/don’t do this,” or laugh-out-loud moments. I groaned. I was going to need more Post-it flags. I also took my copy into work, showed two colleagues my marked-up book in relation to my bookmark, and spurred them to put in requests so they could get in line to read the book. Yes, in line. The library copy had a holds list growing; the nonfiction collector said “I’m going to have to watch this one. I may need to buy more copies!”
When I finished the book, I was extremelyglad I had purchased my own copy! I am not going to count the final Post-it barrage; it is plentiful and, frankly, amusing. I am not even an author and I found so many items to watch for just in writing these book reviews. And, I absolutely CHEERED out loud when I got to the section “The Series Comma.” All hail, Oxford comma followers! When I got to the bullet point about the spelling of “grey,” I laughed, I sighed, I said “Count me among the writers who go ballistic if, in copyediting, you attempt to impose (the g-r-a-y) spelling.”
Whoever thought that 290+ pages of writing on grammar, punctuation, and spelling could be so entertaining? If you are a writer, aspiring writer, or just write as part of your every day life (yes, emails!), I would encourage you to take a gander at this volume.
I settled in with Post-its at the ready. By page 14, I already had flagged 14 passages of wisdom, “do/don’t do this,” or laugh-out-loud moments. I groaned. I was going to need more Post-it flags. I also took my copy into work, showed two colleagues my marked-up book in relation to my bookmark, and spurred them to put in requests so they could get in line to read the book. Yes, in line. The library copy had a holds list growing; the nonfiction collector said “I’m going to have to watch this one. I may need to buy more copies!”
When I finished the book, I was extremelyglad I had purchased my own copy! I am not going to count the final Post-it barrage; it is plentiful and, frankly, amusing. I am not even an author and I found so many items to watch for just in writing these book reviews. And, I absolutely CHEERED out loud when I got to the section “The Series Comma.” All hail, Oxford comma followers! When I got to the bullet point about the spelling of “grey,” I laughed, I sighed, I said “Count me among the writers who go ballistic if, in copyediting, you attempt to impose (the g-r-a-y) spelling.”
Whoever thought that 290+ pages of writing on grammar, punctuation, and spelling could be so entertaining? If you are a writer, aspiring writer, or just write as part of your every day life (yes, emails!), I would encourage you to take a gander at this volume.
emloueez's review
5.0
As someone who writes and edits for a living, and truth be told, doesn't know what she's doing half of the time, this was immensely helpful!
klevtown's review
5.0
Very funny. I could have done without the chapter on proper nouns. Other than that, a total delight.