A Great Typo Hunt

I re-learned that you can’t judge a book by its cover. “The Great Typo Hunt,” by Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson not only sounded dull but looked dull. The title seemed a bit presumptuous and subtitle, well: “Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time,” seriously? And the picture of a desert on the front cover left me feeling just as desolate. However…I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I must really be a “word nerd” after all. I found myself laughing at their ostentatious attitudes and contrived antics. And to have a love story woven through made it that much more palatable. And when I got to the picture of Canal City’s sign without the first “C,” I laughed really hard and then immediately wanted to send it to every student I know. At first I felt like America must be losing its general intelligence with all of the written mistakes we make. But then I realized we are just focusing our intelligence into other areas, which makes me want to work harder in my field to motivate others toward a stronger appreciation of their language. This book not only motivated me as I searched for typos around me every week, but I was excited, like it was Christmas morning every time. (Yes, I am a nerd.) In the end, these authors became less dull and more like my heroes.