The Associated Press Guide to Punctuation

More people write for the Associated Press than for any other news service, and more writers take their style and word-usage cues from this world-famous institution than from any other journalism source. In the no-nonsense, authoritative tradition of the best-selling AP Stylebook, the top editors at the AP have now written the definitive guide to punctuation. From the when and how of the ampersand to the rules for dashes, slashes, and brackets; from the correct moment for the overused exclamation point to the rules of engagement for the semicolon, The AP Guide to Punctuation is an invaluable and easy-to-use guide to the most important aspect of clear and persuasive writing.

Cappon is a terrific writer, and anyone else who writes would benefit immensely from this lucid guide to punctuation.


The gold standard   July 25, 2007
Brad Anderson
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

For journalists, the AP style guides are pretty much the gold standard (or silver, depending on your economic policy leanings). With so much terrible grammar and punctuation, and often lack of punctuation, present in today's world, this is a must-have for aspiring writers, especially journalists.


Very helpful   April 5, 2010
Barbara K. Langley (Independence, MO)
What can you say about all those commas, periods, question marks, and other puncuation? A lot! And this little book is a gem to help you write it correctly. You need it for your reference library.


Extremely helpful   December 12, 2007
Vanessa E. Wells (Jacksonville, Florida)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Any writer should have this at their desk at all times. This book made me more comfortable with the semicolon.


Efficient and entertaining, but slim for my personal taste   May 2, 2004
J. Ott (Los Angeles, CA USA)
45 out of 46 found this review helpful

Written with lively and direct prose, Rene J. Cappon's guide to punctuation succeeds in being a useful resourse for the busy journalist. No reader need fear about getting bogged down in the finer points of periods. If such a situation threatens to occur, Capon is quick to suggest a workaround. This leaves the stickiest questions even stickier, a real prickle for someone as persnickety as me. But for the journalist, or journalism student, I heartily recommend it.

To those looking for a deeper understanding of punctuation, I caution against this slim tome. Organized into seventeen chapters by punctuation, some of them no more than a half of a page ('The Ampersand') and some as many as sixteen ('The Comma'), the AP GUIDE TO PUNCTUATION lacks the philosophical depth and historical background of recent bestseller EATS, SHOOTS, & LEAVES as well as the dry grammar books of days past. The examples, while fun, are not nearly as comprehensive as one expects in any book that bills itself as a reference.

By way of example, here is the entire entry for Irregular Plurals under 'The Apostrophe':

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Irregular plurals also take the apostrophe: children's hour, women's rights, gentlemen's traditions, men's club, and so do nouns that are the same in singular: the single moose's antlers, the deer's track, the two corps' travels. The apostrophe stays whether the meaning is singular or plural.

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No mention is made that it is preferable to disambiguate the singular and plural in such cases. Especially in journalistic writing, where clarity and simplicity are the twin grails of good style.

A dedicated journalist might prefer a true grammar of the English language or the complete and comprehensive AP STYLE BOOK. While they may be dry, they will certainly go a good deal further in answering the questions that arise in all aspects of writing.