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Semicolon

Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)

A page-turning, existential romp through the life and times of the world's most polarizing punctuation mark
The semicolon. Stephen King, Hemingway, Vonnegut, and Orwell detest it. Herman Melville, Henry James, and Rebecca Solnit love it. But why? When is it effective? Have we been misusing it? Should we even care?

In Semicolon, Cecelia Watson charts the rise and fall of this infamous punctuation mark, which for years was the trendiest one in the world of letters. But in the nineteenth century, as grammar books became all the rage, the rules of how we use language became both stricter and more confusing, with the semicolon a prime victim. Taking us on a breezy journey through a range of examples—from Milton's manuscripts to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letters from Birmingham Jail" to Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep—Watson reveals how traditional grammar rules make us less successful at communicating with each other than we'd think. Even the most die-hard grammar fanatics would be better served by tossing the rule books and learning a better way to engage with language.

Through her rollicking biography of the semicolon, Watson writes a guide to grammar that explains why we don't need guides at all, and refocuses our attention on the deepest, most primary value of language: true communication.


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Publisher: HarperAudio Edition: Unabridged

OverDrive Listen audiobook

  • ISBN: 9780062917935
  • File size: 109333 KB
  • Release date: July 30, 2019
  • Duration: 03:47:46

MP3 audiobook

  • ISBN: 9780062917935
  • File size: 109348 KB
  • Release date: July 30, 2019
  • Duration: 03:48:47
  • Number of parts: 4

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Formats

OverDrive Listen audiobook
MP3 audiobook

Languages

English

A page-turning, existential romp through the life and times of the world's most polarizing punctuation mark
The semicolon. Stephen King, Hemingway, Vonnegut, and Orwell detest it. Herman Melville, Henry James, and Rebecca Solnit love it. But why? When is it effective? Have we been misusing it? Should we even care?

In Semicolon, Cecelia Watson charts the rise and fall of this infamous punctuation mark, which for years was the trendiest one in the world of letters. But in the nineteenth century, as grammar books became all the rage, the rules of how we use language became both stricter and more confusing, with the semicolon a prime victim. Taking us on a breezy journey through a range of examples—from Milton's manuscripts to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letters from Birmingham Jail" to Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep—Watson reveals how traditional grammar rules make us less successful at communicating with each other than we'd think. Even the most die-hard grammar fanatics would be better served by tossing the rule books and learning a better way to engage with language.

Through her rollicking biography of the semicolon, Watson writes a guide to grammar that explains why we don't need guides at all, and refocuses our attention on the deepest, most primary value of language: true communication.


Expand title description text
  • Details

    Publisher:
    HarperAudio
    Edition:
    Unabridged

    OverDrive Listen audiobook
    ISBN: 9780062917935
    File size: 109333 KB
    Release date: July 30, 2019
    Duration: 03:47:46

    MP3 audiobook
    ISBN: 9780062917935
    File size: 109348 KB
    Release date: July 30, 2019
    Duration: 03:48:47
    Number of parts: 4

  • Creators
  • Formats
    OverDrive Listen audiobook
    MP3 audiobook
  • Languages
    English
  • Reviews
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