supercheesegirl

Full title: The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager and the Doomed. I'd been meaning to read this for a while, and F has a nice hardback copy, so I gave it a whirl. This is kind of a fun grammar handbook--it's unlike any other grammar handbook you've met. Gordon has a gothic writing style and a wild and flowery vocabulary, which is very different from the straightforward, matter-of-fact tone you find in a typical grammar book. Gordon's sentences are peopled with vampires and mastodons, debutantes and gargoyles and trolls, and her characters get up to all sorts of mischief. It's much more interesting than the bland sorts of examples you'll find elsewhere. Maybe it's just me, though, but I got bored after a while, and I don't think I'd ever use it as a reference, simply because it's easier to find information in the more usual sorts of grammar books. Still, though, it's a fun read--if there's a point of grammar you've never understood, I'd recommend giving this book a try to see if maybe the mastodons can explain it better.