Rebel with a Clause

Ellen's mobile grammar travelogue, presented with an engaging humour and humility will appeal to anyone with an interest in the way English works - which means all of us. Reality television? This is reality grammar.' -David Crystal, author of How Language WorksFor fans of Gyles Brandreth, Susie Dent and Bill Bryson, an unconventional guide to the English language drawn from the cross-country adventures of an itinerant grammarian.When Ellen Jovin first walked outside her Manhattan apartment and set up a folding table with a sign reading "The Grammar Table," it took about 30 seconds to get her first visitor. Everyone had a question for her. The Grammar Table was such a hit - attracting the attention of The New York Times, NPR, and CBS Evening News - that Ellen soon hit the road, travelling across the U.S. to answer questions from students, retired editors, bickering couples, and anyone else who uses words in this world.In Rebel with a Clause, Jovin shares the heartwarming and humorous stories of the people she meets, and what is most on their minds, grammatically speaking - from the Oxford comma to the places prepositions can go, the likely lifespan of 'whom,' semicolonphobia, and so much more.Rebel with a Clause combines the qualities of a first-class work of reference with the laugh-out-loud pleasure of a good read. Punctuated with linguistic debates from tiny towns to crowded cities, this grammar romp will delight anyone wishing to polish their prose or revel in our age-old, universal fascination with language.