In Lynne We Truss

Byline: NIGEL ANDREW

LYNNE TRUSS had an unlikely hit with a book on punctuation.

But, as she tells NIGEL ANDREW, bitter sibling rivalry means she's glad her sister didn't live to see her success

When Lynne Truss's bestselling book on punctuation, Eats, Shoots And Leaves, started to take off, her mother was so proud she couldn't stop telling everyone. On one visit to the chiropodist's, she asked him if he had ever heard of the book.

'No,' he replied. 'Well,' came her jubilant retort, '420,000 people have!'

Sales are now way over three million, but it's just as well Lynne has cheerleaders like her mum on her side. Though she is the friendliest and cheeriest bestselling author you could hope to meet, she is temperamentally inclined to fret rather than to rejoice. She has, in the jargon, 'self-esteem issues'.

I first met Lynne 20 years ago when, at barely 30, she had taken up the hugely prestigious post of literary editor at The Listener, a fine …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: In Lynne We Truss. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Daily Mail (London). Publication date: February 10, 2007. Page number: 15. © 2007 Daily Mail. COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group.

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