The most irreverent and helpful book on language since the New York Times bestseller Eats Shoots amp LeavesMary Norris has spent more than three decades in The New Yorkers 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 adviceBetween You amp Me features Norriss laugh-out-loud descriptions of some of the most common and vexing problems in spelling punctuation and usagexcomma faults danglers who vs whom that vs which compound words gender-neutral languagexand 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 Lords Prayer as well as from The Honeymooners The Simpsons David Foster Wallace and Gillian Flynn She takes us to see a copy of Noah Websters groundbreaking Blue-Back Speller on a quest to find out who put the hyphen in Moby-Dick on a pilgrimage to the worlds 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 SaundersReadersxand writersxwill 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 cant let it push you around.
