On the Mark

“It's a roller coaster of a story.”—John McWhorter, The New York Times

“Engaging.”—NPR’s The Book Ahead

“On the Mark is utterly delightful, filled with marvelous anecdotes on how punctuation evolved from symbols in cuneiform (script needed to exist before punctuation, of course) to the marks we know today that add emphasis, organization, and nuance to our written words.”—Air Mail

“Thoughtful and lively.”—The Wall Street Journal

“A fascinating history of punctuation… this lavishly researched book shows that dots and dashes are an essential component of style, whether you’re a medieval monk or Donald Trump.”—The Guardian

“Playful.”—The Telegraph

“Delightful … a heartily entertaining look at the characters who formed the way we write today.”—The Daily Mail

“Lively.”—Semafor

“Lively [and] playful… Those little periods, parentheses and dashes are a wonder. So, for that matter, is On the Mark.”—BookPage

“Extraordinary and entertaining.”—Bookreporter

“Remarkable.”—The Washington Free Beacon

“Hazrat brings an important subject to life.”—Literary Review

“An absolute delight! Rich, wise, and elegantly told. This is a treasure chest of pleasingly obscure information. There is so much more to the written word than the letters of the alphabet.”—Dennis Duncan, author of Index, A History of the

“Deft, thoughtful, and fascinating. This book exposes the hidden language that surrounds our words.” —Mark Forsyth, author of The Etymologicon

“This wonderful history of punctuation is also a history of the world. In Florence Hazrat's hands, every story has a point, and every point a story.”—Simon Garfield, author of Just My Type

“On the Mark is dizzying, compendious, and illuminating—a timely and rewarding quest through the past, present, and future of punctuation.”—Keith Houston, author of Shady Characters

“A thought-provoking history of language’s unsung dots and squiggles. Punctuation may be silent, but thankfully there’s Florence Hazrat to tell the tale.” —Eli Burnstein, author of Dictionary of Fine Distinctions

“So. Good. So. Sharp. So. Clear. You. Need. This. Book. Period.”—Lucy Mangan, author of Bookish