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Title details for Between You and Me by Mary Norris - Available

Between You and Me

Confessions of Comma Queen

by Mary Norris
Mary Norris
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
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2 of 2 copies available
Mary Norris has spent more than three decades in The New Yorker's copy department, maintaining its celebrated high standards. Now she brings her vast experience, good cheer, and finely sharpened pencils to help the rest of us in a boisterous language book as full of life as it is of practical advice. Between You & Me features Norris's laugh-out-loud descriptions of some of the most common and vexing problems in spelling, punctuation, and usage-comma faults, danglers, "who" vs. "whom," "that" vs. "which," compound words, gender-neutral language-and her clear explanations of how to handle them. Down-to-earth and always open-minded, she draws on examples from Charles Dickens, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, and the Lord's Prayer, as well as from The Honeymooners, The Simpsons, David Foster Wallace, and Gillian Flynn. She takes us to see a copy of Noah Webster's groundbreaking Blue-Back Speller, on a quest to find out who put the hyphen in Moby-Dick, on a pilgrimage to the world's only pencil-sharpener museum, and inside the hallowed halls of The New Yorker and her work with such celebrated writers as Pauline Kael, Philip Roth, and George Saunders. Readers-and writers-will find in Norris neither a scold nor a softie but a wise and witty new friend in love with language and alive to the glories of its use in America, even in the age of autocorrect and spell-check. As Norris writes, "The dictionary is a wonderful thing, but you can't let it push you around."

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    April 6, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781490664408
      • File size: 235491 KB
      • Duration: 08:10:36

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      July 1, 2015

      Cleveland native Norris has scrutinized punctuation, spelling, and grammar in The New Yorker's legendary copy department since 1978. Her laugh-out-loud narrative-- part memoir, part usage guide--examines the toughest grammatical challenges faced by writers, including comma usage; gender-neutral pronouns; "that" vs. "which"; "who" vs. "whom"; the difference among dashes, colons, and semicolons; and the dreaded dangling participle. Grammar has never been so entertaining thanks to Norris's lively narration; accessible, often irreverent, prose; and colorful literary examples ranging from Moby-Dick (Who put that hyphen on the book's title page when it isn't used in Melville's text?) to The Simpsons (Mr. Burns's excellent grammar "marks him as a villain."). Equally entertaining are the biographical elements sprinkled artfully throughout the book (like commas from the "comma shaker" on Norris's New Yorker desk.) Recollections from Norris's early jobs (working in a costume shop, delivering milk, packaging cheese) and her tenure at The New Yorker, as well as fond and funny family reminiscences, make this work an excellent choice for memoir fans. VERDICT This sassy, feel-good title will also make listeners feel smarter--a can't-miss choice for all collections.--Beth Farrell, Cleveland State Univ. Law Lib.

      Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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