Between You And Me Confessions Of A Comma Queen – Mary Norris

Description

Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris is a witty, insightful, and thoroughly entertaining book about the quirks and challenges of the English language. Drawing on her more than thirty years as a copy editor at The New Yorker, Norris blends practical advice with sharp humour, offering readers a lively exploration of grammar, punctuation, and word usage. This nonfiction gem sits comfortably in the language and reference genre, though its conversational style and personal anecdotes give it broad appeal beyond grammar enthusiasts.

From comma mishaps to the eternal debates over “who” versus “whom” and “that” versus “which,” Between You & Me delves into the most vexing language dilemmas with warmth and clarity. Norris illustrates her points with examples from literary greats like Dickens and Dickinson to pop culture staples such as The Simpsons and David Foster Wallace. Her adventures range from chasing down a hyphen in Moby-Dick to visiting the world’s only pencil sharpener museum, adding a playful charm to her linguistic lessons.