The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation

I asked a journalist for the New York Times to suggest a volume for my reference . His choice was Assoc. Press Guide to Punctuation. I have found it useful and easily understood.

Any writer should have this at their desk at all times. This book made me more comfortable with the semicolon.

For journalists, the AP style guides are pretty much the gold standard (or silver, depending on your economic policy leanings). With so much terrible grammar and punctuation, and often lack of punctuation, present in today's world, this is a must-have for aspiring writers, especially journalists.

Written with lively and direct prose, Rene J. Cappon's guide to punctuation succeeds in being a useful resourse for the busy journalist. No reader need fear about getting bogged down in the finer points of periods. If such a situation threatens to occur, Capon is quick to suggest a workaround. This leaves the stickiest questions even stickier, a real prickle for someone as persnickety as me. But for the journalist, or journalism student, I heartily recommend it.To those looking for a deeper understanding of punctuation, I caution against this slim tome. Organized into seventeen chapters by punctuation, some of them no more than a half of a page ('The Ampersand') and some as many as sixteen ('The Comma'), the AP GUIDE TO PUNCTUATION lacks the philosophical depth and historical background of recent bestseller EATS, SHOOTS, & LEAVES as well as the dry grammar books of days past. The examples, while fun, are not nearly as comprehensive as one expects in any book that bills itself as a reference.By way of example, here is the entire entry for Irregular Plurals under 'The Apostrophe':---Irregular plurals also take the apostrophe: children's hour, women's rights, gentlemen's traditions, men's club, and so do nouns that are the same in singular: the single moose's antlers, the deer's track, the two corps' travels. The apostrophe stays whether the meaning is singular or plural.---No mention is made that it is preferable to disambiguate the singular and plural in such cases. Especially in journalistic writing, where clarity and simplicity are the twin grails of good style.A dedicated journalist might prefer a true grammar of the English language or the complete and comprehensive AP STYLE BOOK. While they may be dry, they will certainly go a good deal further in answering the questions that arise in all aspects of writing.

As a professional editor for nearly two decades, I heartily recommend this book. Cappon's writing is clear, funny, and creative, and he makes the nuances of punctuation memorable. His reasoning is logical, and his explanations and examples are very helpful. Interestingly, though this is an Associated Press publication, some of the style differs from the official A.P. Stylebook. So if A.P. is your background, be aware of this.Cappon is a terrific writer, and anyone else who writes would benefit immensely from this lucid guide to punctuation.