I can’t say enough good things about the work of Karen
Elizabeth Gordon. Never did I think that punctuation could be so
entertaining. A person can turn to this book for both advice and diversion. – Cathryn Pisarski, Editor of Cune MagazineKaren Elizabeth says of her book,
However frenzied, disarrayed, or complicated your thoughts might be, punctuation
tempers them. We rarely give these symbols a second glance: they’re like invisible
servants in fairy tales – the ones who bring glasses of water and pillows, not storms
of weather or love. One quick blink and you’ve caught the comma’s or
slash’s or hyphen’s message, or huddled in a parenthetical clasp. Like
well-trained prodigies, punctuation marks can exceed your expectations, even defy belief.
The following is an excerpt from The Comma,
When a series is concluded with etc. in the middle
of a sentence, the etc. is set off by commas.
He told her he was into shuffleboard, soap operas, Lawrence Welk,
etc., before she managed to slip out the back door.
She powdered her nose, her body, her alibis, etc., to meet his
scrutiny intact.
