Mary Norris, copy editor for the New Yorker, has written a wonderfully informative book, Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen. The author makes grammar fun, yet each chapter holds a wealth of memorable tips.
Norris talks about her early days at the New Yorker and the painful lessons she’s learned through her years at America’s premier literary magazine. She has mastered the art of fixing something without draining the sentence of its character.
Chapter by chapter Norris talks about the difference between this and that, which and that, dangling participles, often giving hints about how to figure out the correct word. She goes into some detail about the predicament of having no common-sex singular for he, she, or it. She suggests that we might adopt s/he, he/she or even heesh. She suggests that when wondering which pronouns to use when saying something like between you and me, reverse the pronouns. Between I and you just wouldn’t sound right. Then there’s that pesky who and whom. She covers it all.
I laughed right out loud when the author discusses the serial comma, the comma before “and” in a series. She believes in retaining the comma for fear a sentence will come out as it did in this example: “And there was the country-and-western singer who ‘was joined by his two ex-wives, Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings.’”
Many of Norris’ comments are based on the “New Yorker style.” The magazine, of course, has many dictionaries and reference books. But, as the author says, “The dictionary is a wonderful thing, but you can’t let it push you around.” Use common sense.
The book covers almost any question of punctuation imaginable: the comma, dash, semicolon, colon, exclamation point (which she calls a screamer), and the en and em dashes (which have no spaces before and after).
Between You and Me is a rather short book, with the last thirty percent of it taken with Acknowledgments, Notes (from each chapter), Appendix, and Index.
I loved Between You and Me. It’s charming and witty, and I learned a lot along the way.
This sounds like quite a find, Mary. A short, entertaining book that teaches grammar! A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Thanks!
It really is a fun, informative book, Pamela. I’d recommend it to anyone, especially a writer.
From your review, Mary, sounds like Mary Norris has “Elements of Style” beat! I’ll have to get this book, especially to read what she has to say about dangling participles. One of my pet peeves when I see them in a sentence.
Thank you, Alice. This book is really a gem–every writer should have a copy.
Sounds like a book I could use. Have to look into it. Thanks for choosing it to review.
I read this book in e-format, Irene, which I know you prefer. Thanks for your comment.