Help a Thief!

Many style guides say that punctuation comes down to the writer's own judgement, which offers little help if no one ever explained the difference between a colon and a semicolon or where apostrophes belong. Caroline Taggart writes about grammar, usage and vocabulary, and for years she earned her living adding commas to other people's manuscripts. Drawing on that background, she offers a light, witty guide to the marks that confuse so many writers.

The book separates what matters from what can be relaxed. It explains why a run of six exclamation marks is fine in a text message but will cost points in a school essay, why trainee hang glider pilots need a hyphen, and how a well-placed semicolon can make a writer look polished. Her opinions are clear, but she avoids presenting them as the only acceptable rules.