This time two years, Lynne Truss’ Eats, Shoots and Leaves was the de facto gift for those people you hadn’t already bought a Christmas gift for. And yes, I do know that we’re not in any way close to Christmas yet. It really annoyed me seeing the “gift” sections of Waterstones and WH Smiths today.
But I digress. I read this book, in its entirety, on the way home from work today. Yup – all 200 pages in one go. OK, so I did take a somewhat roundabout route home, going via the Hammersmith Apollo, where I was unexpectantly turned away from a Sheryl Crow concert by virtue of the fact that my ticket is actually for tomorrow night. How stupid do you think I felt?
Anyhow, this book is basically a 200 page rant about manners and rudeness, and as such, you can find nothing really to argue about. It’s like being stuck in a pub with an eloquent and intelligent friend who’s full of anecdotes largely based around being served rudely in shops and poorly from call centres.
Great fun for an hour or two.