It is tempting to think that the success of Lynn Truss's book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves, on punctuation heralds some sort of resurgence in grammatical skills.

Tempting, but probably wide of the mark. Just like the Christmas before, with Schott's Miscellany, seasonal best-sellers tend to be the outcome of desperation (for a small-ish, you're not really family, so a-stocking-filler-type-pressie will do) and that least predictable factor in business: luck.
Friends in the media

Ms Truss also had the benefit of having quite a few friends in the media who helpfully gave the book a plug. Combine that with a fair bit of clever in-store promotion and 600,000 sales later, Ms Truss is said to be in the process of buying a Mediterranean holiday home.

As someone whose sole publication attracted more modest sales, even with a few good plugs and a bit of in-store promotion ("Local author"), I am surprised I am not more bitter at life's injustices. Particularly, with a fair wind and a couple of pedantic friends, punctuation is something I could have a stab at.

However, bitter I am not, though I suspect Ms Truss would have preferred if I had written that as, "however, I am not bitter" (she also does sentence construction).

There is no shortage of books on grammar, punctuation and the like (I've probably read about 25 different ones) and Ms Truss is unlikely to lay claim to be the best, but she is certainly funnier than most of the dull old tomes that proliferate the market.

People who write books on the subject take it very seriously. How could you not if you need to know when to use the possessive gerund? So a tongue-in-cheek look at how it all works will be always first out of the blocks in terms of preference, unless you are Reid Professor of Etymology at Cambridge*.
Phenomenal success

Yet that does not explain her phenomenal success. I suspect that the book was bought largely as a present rather than bought to read by the buyer. We don't know for sure, but I think it is a fair guess. And if that is so, I would think, like many Christmas impulse purchases, is largely unread by the vast majority of the recipients.

So I rather think those who are trying to tie the book's success to the dawn of a new era of literacy might need to think again. So far I have not detected any major improvement in the standard of English on display on that most public of noticeboards, the internet.

Its and it's continue to confuse as do CD's the 90's, never mind St Paddies Day. It would take more than 600,000 sales to address that and not even the redoubtable Ms Truss would think otherwise.
English is a living language

The truth is that the language is purloined for various purposes, most often laziness and, more speciously by some, as the perfect antidote to the dangers of ossification. English is a living language, the latter opine, best taken off dusty bookshelves and injected with some vitality.

Fine, I have no objections to that, but modernity should not excuse the misuse of: there, their, where and were (just for starters), nevermind the more arcane areas. For example how often have you seen the term 'fulsome praise' used correctly? (For the record it means excessive or cloying.)

Okay, call me a pedant, but a lot of people DO know the answers and if they are in a position to give you a business contract, then it might count against you if you do not. The solution - and here comes the hard sell - is to learn to write better, particularly if you write anything that is regularly read by others. There are no big shortcuts, but you can make progress in a day. We run a course that proves it.

However, if Ms Truss's book has whet your appetite, then it was one stocking filler that did not go to waste. See if you want to go further.

*Post awaiting co-funding quotient (stakeholder opportunities exist).

Copyright, 2004