A high-concept comic crime thriller aims to update the grand English tradition but hits wide of the mark.
The protean English broadcaster, columnist and sportswriter Lynne Truss is best known internationally for Eats, Shoots & Leaves, her 2003 lament for the decline in standards of punctuation. It was a delight to pedants everywhere, including this one, not least because they enjoyed spotting its several dozen errors and internal contradictions: the first appears in the subtitle, The Zero Tolerance Guide to Punctuation, a phrase that, as she makes clear at some length in the text, requires a hyphen between “zero” and “tolerance”, because it is a noun phrase being used as an attributive adjective (as in “stainless-steel saucepan”).
This story is from the October 13 - 19 2018 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the October 13 - 19 2018 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.
Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.
Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.
