Punctilious Punctuation: Telling tales with (and of) those jots and tittles

by Ian Randal Strock

148 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2025

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

You will learn a lot from these breezy book about punctuation... at times it seems too much. Strock takes a deep dive into the subject and if you decide to wade rather than snorkel, you'll still get a lot. Much of those marks date back to ancient Greek or Roman times, but others are determined by needs of typesetters. He even explains how computers and push button phones had their impact. It's a fun read.

[John Goodwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!
I am a bit of a stickler on correct punctuation and find poor punctuation a turn-off in books I read. But in finding the history of punctiation mixed with correct usage and fun anectdotes connected with punctuation, reading about it was actually quite enjoyable.
I hadn't realized how much punctuation was built around typesetters. And I learned why periods and commas are put inside quotes.
One interesting item: Beethoven's Symphony #V in morse code is ..._ which is also the famous opening to the symphony da-da-da-dah.