Who would believe that a book on punctuation would beat out mystery writer John Grisham's latest novel and hit the No. 1 spot on the best seller's list?  I doubt Lynne Truss, author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves would have bet her royalty statement on it.

So what do Pandas and Punctuation have in common?  According to Truss, they are both endangered species. On the back jacket cover of her book, Truss describes the following life and death situation:

A panda walks into a café.  He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

"Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit.  The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

"I'm a panda," he says, at the door.  "Look it up."

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

"Panda.  Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."

As you can see, a misplaced comma can make a world of difference.  Don't believe me?  Try punctuating this one:

Woman without her man would be nothing.

Depending how brave you are, you have options of where to place the punctuation.

Woman without her man, would be nothing or Woman! Without her, man would be nothing.

The Panda Book, as it is commonly referred to in the writing world, is a delightful and witty look at our language.  Truss uses everyday mistakes to educate us in a humorous way about the effects of poor language.  I find this book so enjoyable and easy to read that I don't even realize I'm learning about GRAMMAR!  I'm always pleasantly surprised and impressed when I introduce this book to professional engineers attending my workshop and several have heard of it.  Deep inside, I believe there is a "word nerd" in every technical person.

For those of you that rely on data, calculate this:  When Truss' book (yes that is the appropriate use of the apostrophe) first came out in Nov 2003, the print run was for 15,000 copies.  By Christmas of that year, 500,000 copies were sold.  I take that as a sign that people everywhere are frustrated with poor punctuation.

The beauty of this little book is that it meets the needs of several audiences:  The reader who wants to understand the nuances and complexities of the English language will enjoy the light-hearted review and training provided.  Readers who are outraged and frustrated by the butchering of grammar will find comfort to know that Lynne Truss is out there being a punctuation vigilante.  Some readers may just want to read it so they can be included in the next dinner party conversation and be aware of the controversy that exists surrounding punctuation.

After reading Eats, Shoots and Leaves, I joined Lynne Truss as a card-carrying member of the Association of the Protection of the Apostrophe.  If you can't join the club, at least get yourself a copy of this book for your library.

Please email me at LisaM@rgilearning.com if you have a particular issue or question you would like me to address in a future article.

Lisa Moretto is the President of RGI Learning, Inc. For 16 years she has helped engineers improve their oral and written communication skills. Visit www.rgilearning.com or call (585) 461-3617 to learn about RGI’s courses.

© 2007 RGI Learning

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