On Your Marks: A Package of Punctuation,

by Richard Armour

Those who pepper their prose heavily with commas, dashes, and exclamation points, as well as those who are stingy with them, will find guidance and gaiety in this punctuation mark Who's Who by that master of light verse, Richard Armour. From the "fat little period, round as a ball" to the asterisk and ellipsis, sixteen punctuation marks merrily perform their functions, aided by eye-catching designs.

Genres: Humor, Writing

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Richard Armour, a college professor of English who specialized in Chaucer and the English Romantic poets, was best known as a prolific author of light verse and wacky parodies of academic scholarship. He was a professor of English at Scripps College in Claremont from 1945 to 1966.

Armour was raised in Pomona, California, where his father owned a drugstore. He graduated from Pomona College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, then obtained his master's and Ph.D. in English literature at Harvard. He was a Harvard research fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum library in London.

Reviews

[Becky Loader · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Ogden Nash writes the foreword, a book has to be outstandingly put-together and stupendously, humorously clever in its presentation. Aunt Rita, the best punctuationologist I ever met, would have loved this book.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought a battered copy to use for jewelry making and gave it a quick read first.

[Cameron · Rating 3 out of 5]

I purchased this book without knowledge of it or the author. I was sold on it because, superficially, the book jacket is designed by renowned American graphic designer Herb Lubalin. It is a book about punctuation, and the author has turned each mark of punctuation into it's own poem, where he playfully uses the mark in a series of informative rhyming. It is reminiscent of Dr. Seuss and less existential that I might have enjoyed, but the copy and punctuation are both easily defined in black and red ink. A worthy addition to any collection, something off the beat and path just not so much.

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!! A friend loaned it to me to read since I disclosed some confusion with critique/editing suggestions.

[Elizabeth Meadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contained fun little poems about various punctuation marks. I wish it would have told me more about the semi-colon. I've never really understood when to use it.