Audiobook7 hours
Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen
Written by Mary Norris
Narrated by Mary Norris
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
"Hilarious. . . . This book charmed my socks off." ?Patricia O'Conner, New York Times Book Review Mary Norris has spent more than three decades in The New Yorker's 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 advice. Greek to Me features Norris's laugh-out-loud descriptions of some of the most common and vexing problems in spelling, punctuation, and usage?comma faults, danglers, "who" vs. "whom," "that" vs. "which," compound words, gender-neutral language?and 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 Lord's Prayer, as well as from The Honeymooners, The Simpsons, David Foster Wallace, and Gillian Flynn. She takes us to see a copy of Noah Webster's groundbreaking Blue-Back Speller, on a quest to find out who put the hyphen in Moby-Dick, on a pilgrimage to the world's 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 Saunders. Readers?and writers?will 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 can't let it push you around."
Related to Greek to Me
Related audiobooks
The Upside-Down World: Meetings with the Dutch Masters Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAcross Canada by Story: A Coast-to-Coast Literary Adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTabula Rasa: Volume 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Writer's Library: he Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What to Read and Why Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Between You and Me: Confessions of Comma Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rebel With A Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grammar for a Full Life: How the Ways We Shape a Sentence Can Limit or Enlarge Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Gift of the Gab: How Eloquence Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Read and Why Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Glamour Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Are What You Read: A Practical Guide to Reading Well Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderworks: The 25 Most Powerful Inventions in the History of Literature Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Austen Years: A Memoir in Five Novels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Horologicon: A Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twenty-five Books That Shaped America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Importance of Not Being Ernest: A Writing Life with an Uninvited Guest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Elements of Style Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Think like Shakespeare: Lessons from a Renaissance Education Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wit's End: What Wit Is, How It Works, and Why We Need It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Grammar & Punctuation For You
English Irregular Verbs Complete: Learn in Days, Keep Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Grammar of the English Tongue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Ideal Handbook for IELTS Speaking Cue Cards Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEnglish Grammar Made Easy: How to Understand English Grammar as a Beginner Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow To Learn English Grammar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Learn Chinese: A Quick and Easy Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Learn Japanese : A Quick and Easy Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThat's Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms, and What Our English Says About Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Way With Words III: Grammar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grammar for a Full Life: How the Ways We Shape a Sentence Can Limit or Enlarge Us Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Demystifying the Spanish Subjunctive: Feel the fear and Subjunctive anyway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Glamour Grammar: A Guide to the Magic and Mystery of Practical English Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Write a Sentence: And How to Read One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBetween You and Me: Confessions of Comma Queen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Have You Eaten Grandma?: Or, the Life-Saving Importance of Correct Punctuation, Grammar, and Good English Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfecting the Pronouns in Spanish: Using the Spanish Pronouns with ease Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Comprehensive English Grammar Guide: From Basics to Competitive Excellence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaking Sense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Speak Business English with Confidence: A Guide to Boosting Business English Proficiency Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSer and Estar Made Simple: Easy Spanish Concepts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rebel With A Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pocket Por and Para: The only book you'll ever need! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Write Better Right Now: The Reluctant Writer's Guide to Confident Communication and Self-Assured Style Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Greek to Me
Rating: 3.7403845384615386 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
52 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lovely short book about the author’s experiences learning Greek (classical and modern) and her travels in Greece. She’s a great writer so I think I’d be happy to read her grocery list if she decided to publish it. I love her tone of voice, it’s educated and plain-talk all at once, with loads of humor, much of it directed at herself.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A somewhat adorable misfire, almost more personal memoir than paean to Greece. It took me over a year to finish it: Norris seems to spend every other sentence of the book's first half explaining virtually every English word with Greek roots, and being the kind of guy who reads books by copy editors (such as Mary Norris), I know that stuff. When I finally returned to the book, it got better, with less etymology (Gk. etymon, a true thing + logos, word) and more travel reporting from places like Crete, and Eleusis, classical site of the Eleusinian mysteries and now an industrial wasteland of tire centers and factories. Norris is an eccentric guide who presents herself as a species of idiot savant, a working-class escapee from the know-nothing Midwest who enjoys the most obscure heights of intellectual pursuit while also admitting huge gaps in general knowledge. This is admirable, but becomes a bit too cute. She'll use the word "autochthonous" in one breath, and in the next, add the phrase "(not the one in Ohio)" to her hundredth mention of Athens, just as a joke.There are things to learn here, but my patience was tested. Fortunately, the book is small. I would approach the book like a magazine article. Don't work too hard at paying attention. Read quickly, scan over what doesn't interest you, take a few notes for further exploration, and call it good.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Charming. Well written. For language lovers.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mary Norris has written a fine paean to her love of the Greek language, and the whole experience of Greece, both physical and mental. The prose is what one would expect of a "New Yorker" copy editor. That is to say (I, know Mary, that is a "Filler" phrase) It is precise and grammatically perfect. Into the bargain, the prose is the tool of a fine eye, and a ebullient humour on many topics. Read this book, and even, buy it! You will learn a good deal about the Greek language, and the English language, and writers in English about Greece, as well as even about the classical writers...This is a book filled with Greek Sunshine!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delightful piece of fluff concerning the author's love affair with all things Greek: language, buth ancient and modern; etymology and history of same; and her adventures in Greece and its islands. Fast-paced and full of information tidbits.