Description
Fascinating… I loved this book; I really did’ David Crystal, Spectator
A biography of a much misunderstood punctuation mark and a call to arms in favour of clear expression and against stifling grammar rules.
Cecelia Watson used to be obsessive about grammar rules. But then she began teaching. And that was when she realized that strict rules aren’t always the best way of teaching people how to make words say what they want them to; that they are even, sometimes, best ignored.
One punctuation mark encapsulates this thorny issue more clearly than any other. The semicolon. Hated by Stephen King, Hemingway, Vonnegut and Orwell, and loved by Herman Melville, Henry James and Rebecca Solnit, it is the most divisive punctuation mark in the English language, and many are too scared to go near it. But why? When is it effective? Have we been misusing it? Should we even care?
In this warm, funny, enlightening and thoroughly original book, Cecelia Watson takes us on a whistle-stop tour of the surprising history of the semicolon and explores the remarkable power it can wield, if only we would stop being afraid of it.
Forget the rules; you’re in charge. It’s time to make language do what you want it to.
Disclaimer: This item is on clearance sale and has been fully marked down due to various reasons, including any damage that may not be physically apparent. Markings may vary per book. While it is still in good condition, it may have a small dot or line on the edge, a price sticker from the original store it was returned from, or a different cover from what is shown in the display picture. This item is sold on as AS IS basis. Thus, item sold is considered as final sale.
Data sheet
- Article
- 100000180217
- Author Name
- Cecelia Watson
- Publisher
- HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS
- Origin
- Imported
- Book Format
- Trade Paperback
- Weight
- 0.2kg
- Length
- 19.8cm
- Width
- 12.9cm
- Height
- 1.8cm
- Year Released
- 2020
- ISBN/ISSN
- 9780008318925
- Number of Pages
- 224
- Translator
- English
