You'd think a book with a title like The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time would be a lot of fun to read, wouldn't you?
It's not.*
*Read Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation instead.
Damn! I had high hopes for this one since I LOVE the Truss book!
Posted by: bybee | 21 October 2010 at 11:48 PM
Well, Bybee, in all fairness, I only read the first four chapters or so, and just didn't care for the author's voice. (I liked Truss's authentic, somewhat angry sarcasm a lot better, if I recall correctly.) He was trying just a bit too hard to justify his book, and coming off as cutesy without being particularly interesting. If you're interested in the "person travels across the US to do something funky" genre, I'd also try Steve Almond's "Candyfreak" or...well, I know there's more, but I'm blanking this morning. If I get my brain back later today I'll suggest others.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 22 October 2010 at 08:32 AM
Driving Mr. Albert? I haven't read it. Just thinking of funky driving titles.
I fully understand why this book would be irritating. I am a bit of a grammar noodge myself and one of my favorite blogs is the "blog" of "unnecessary" quotation marks (http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/) but ... I also don't much care for people who appoint themselves public grammar police (and, to be honest, I'm a little scarred from working in daily newspapers where self-appointed grammar cops would delight in pointing out stupid errors that may or may not have been your fault and by the way, self appointed grammar cop, YOU try banging out a couple hundred words on a complex subject with a tight deadline and malfunctioning computers sometime. It's a freaking miracle newspapers come out every day).
Posted by: nan | 22 October 2010 at 11:28 AM
I couldn't agree more!! I too was looking forward to reading "The Great Typo Hunt." Then I picked it up and could only get through a few chapters before I threw in the towel. I great premise for a book; just too bad it was written by someone who doesn't tell the story very well.
Posted by: Baba | 22 October 2010 at 01:05 PM
Nan,
I thought about Driving Mr. Albert too, which was an interesting book, but not as hilariously bitter as Truss's book. There's another book I can't think of right now, where a guy set out to bowl in all 50 states, very enjoyable stuff.
I don't mind public grammar police. But I do at least want them to be witty, rather than just looking for a hook for a book proposal, which is the feeling I got from this guy.
Baba,
I couldn't agree more. Fine premise, could've been fun, but just wasn't.
Posted by: Citizen Reader | 22 October 2010 at 01:45 PM
I agree. Just picked this one up from the library and am glad I didn't use my hard earned money to buy it. After a quick skim, I can tell I won't like it.
Posted by: Lynne | 31 October 2010 at 10:53 PM