As a copy editor, I wanted to love this book. Support a dying profession! But it was not to be.

What I expected to be a sort of relatable tell-all of the profession and the inner workings of the New Yorker — think Anthony Boursain’s “Kitchen Confidential” but for copy editors — was instead a mostly dry explainer on various grammar rules punctuated by the occasional cheesy one-liner pun or not-so-funny joke on the subject, suitable maybe as a poor yet likely choice for required reading in a freshman English 101 class.

Consequently, what should have taken me a couple days to read (200 pages) instead plodded on for three months, as I simply couldn’t keep my eyes open reading for very long. Harsh, but true. When a highlight is a seemingly out of place chapter about the author’s love of No. 1 pencils is a high note, something is clearly off.

Zzzz... one star, don’t bother unless you’re REALLY into grammar. Like, ultra high level, spectrum-y obsessive word nerd, not just a lowly overworked copy editor.