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Rebel With A Clause: Tales and Tips from a Roving Grammarian
"A fresh and democratic take on language by a gifted teacher." -Mary Norris
"[Jovin] never hectors, never finger-points; she enlightens and illuminates. This is lovely work." -Benjamin Dreyer
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 building and set up a folding table with a GRAMMAR TABLE sign, it took about thirty seconds to get her first visitor. Everyone had a question for her. Grammar Table was such a hit-attracting the attention of the New York Times, NPR, and CBS Evening News-that Jovin soon took it on the road, traveling across the US to answer questions from writers, lawyers, editors, businesspeople, students, bickering couples, and anyone else who uses words in this world.
In Rebel with a Clause, Jovin tackles what is most on people's minds, grammatically speaking-from the Oxford comma to the places prepositions can go, the likely lifespan of whom, semicolonphobia, and more.
Punctuated with linguistic debates from tiny towns to our largest cities, this grammar romp will delight anyone wishing to polish their prose or revel in our age-old, universal fascination with language.
"[Jovin] never hectors, never finger-points; she enlightens and illuminates. This is lovely work." -Benjamin Dreyer
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 building and set up a folding table with a GRAMMAR TABLE sign, it took about thirty seconds to get her first visitor. Everyone had a question for her. Grammar Table was such a hit-attracting the attention of the New York Times, NPR, and CBS Evening News-that Jovin soon took it on the road, traveling across the US to answer questions from writers, lawyers, editors, businesspeople, students, bickering couples, and anyone else who uses words in this world.
In Rebel with a Clause, Jovin tackles what is most on people's minds, grammatically speaking-from the Oxford comma to the places prepositions can go, the likely lifespan of whom, semicolonphobia, and more.
Punctuated with linguistic debates from tiny towns to our largest cities, this grammar romp will delight anyone wishing to polish their prose or revel in our age-old, universal fascination with language.
Editorial Reviews
"Jovin uses a combination of intuition and established guidelines to demonstrate that there's almost always more than one correct answer to questions of communication. Along the way, she shares funny anecdotes about the interactions at her booth and how it functioned as an outlet for individuals to passionately express their points of view…Fellow language lovers will enjoy the ride." - Publishers Weekly
"A delightful, educative journey through some prickly regions of English grammar...Jovin positions herself, convincingly, as not just a linguistic, but an emotional counselor, fostering healthy communication rather than judgement...The invitation she poses in her introduction-'Now, please lie down on a nice couch with this book and let's have some grammar therapy'-is well worth accepting."
- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Ellen Jovin is, literally, a public grammarian, doling out advice on myriad fine points of language from behind a folding table she first set up in Manhattan's Verdi Park. In Rebel with a Clause, Jovin shares not only her story as an itinerant language maven but so much first-rate wisdom about everything from the effective wielding of commas to differentiating between 'effect' and 'affect' (to say nothing of 'who' and 'whom') that you may not realize till you finish the book that you've learned so much. And she does it with sweetness and an enviable generosity of spirit. She never hectors, never finger-points; she enlightens and illuminates. This is lovely work." - Benjamin Dreyer, author of the New York Times bestseller Dreyer's English
"In Rebel with a Clause, Ellen Jovin has given us a street-level view of English grammar and usage, engaging with kids, drunks, cranks, and dads all over this land. From Verdi Square to Venice Beach, Fargo to New Orleans, she brings organization and clarity to every subject she lights on, presiding over the Grammar Table with tact, humility, and irrepressible playfulness. A fresh and democratic take on language by a gifted teacher." - Mary Norris, author of Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen and Greek to Me
"This is perhaps the most imaginative book ever written about grammar-essentiall...
"A delightful, educative journey through some prickly regions of English grammar...Jovin positions herself, convincingly, as not just a linguistic, but an emotional counselor, fostering healthy communication rather than judgement...The invitation she poses in her introduction-'Now, please lie down on a nice couch with this book and let's have some grammar therapy'-is well worth accepting."
- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Ellen Jovin is, literally, a public grammarian, doling out advice on myriad fine points of language from behind a folding table she first set up in Manhattan's Verdi Park. In Rebel with a Clause, Jovin shares not only her story as an itinerant language maven but so much first-rate wisdom about everything from the effective wielding of commas to differentiating between 'effect' and 'affect' (to say nothing of 'who' and 'whom') that you may not realize till you finish the book that you've learned so much. And she does it with sweetness and an enviable generosity of spirit. She never hectors, never finger-points; she enlightens and illuminates. This is lovely work." - Benjamin Dreyer, author of the New York Times bestseller Dreyer's English
"In Rebel with a Clause, Ellen Jovin has given us a street-level view of English grammar and usage, engaging with kids, drunks, cranks, and dads all over this land. From Verdi Square to Venice Beach, Fargo to New Orleans, she brings organization and clarity to every subject she lights on, presiding over the Grammar Table with tact, humility, and irrepressible playfulness. A fresh and democratic take on language by a gifted teacher." - Mary Norris, author of Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen and Greek to Me
"This is perhaps the most imaginative book ever written about grammar-essentiall...
Readers Top Reviews
K. SpanglerOutwest
This was a fun book about grammar. I learned some new things and remembered some things I already knew. It was worth the read. It did have some bad language in a few places, which is why I gave it a lower rating.
Joshua M. Tanzer
"Rebel With a Clause" is a book about grammar in the way The Wire is a show about crimes. That is, it wouldn't exist without grammar but it's really a book about people. In fact, us. Ellen Jovin has spent several years roving the country, setting up a table on the sidewalk with the sign "Grammar Table," and waiting for people to stop and ask questions. This book grows out of those conversations, and it isn't just about answering questions — it's about exploring our relationship with the English language, our opinions, our social connections through language, our childhood memories of how we learned grammar in school, our fears of getting things wrong, and the pleasure of learning how to get things right — or maybe that our own quirks have been "right" all along. If you want to read about the "Oxford comma" or whether there's a difference between "lie" and "lay," that's absolutely here in this book for you, but honestly, what you're going to do is not get buried in details but rather enjoy reading page to page and being whooshed around America and laughing along with husbands and wives who have disagreed about Point X for 30 years and just enjoying the great humanity around us — through this one lens of conversation about language. And about us. A wonderful book.
After six years of doctoral studies that included two years of research and writing my dissertation, I finally Ph.inishe.D this past August 2, 2022 when I successfully defended my dissertation. Ellen's book could have saved me some anguish during that time. There are tricky things that all of us stumble over (effect/affect; who/whom; final punctuation when quotation marks are involved, sentences ending with a participle) that Ellen covers with stories and wit and fun. I only wish I'd had her book when I started working on my Ph.D. Did I mention that I just earned my Ph.D. ... at 65 years of age? lol
PETER B.
Very well written and informative. I learned a lot and stayed captivated. it is very hard to put the book down.
Public Persona
I liked this book. It was fun to read and the most fun I've ever had from a book about grammar. I often laughed out loud at some of the examples from people the author met along the way. It wasn't mean or critical of the different people. It was just informative and kind.
