Yesterday I went online and ordered a desk copy of the anthology I will be using in a class this spring semester. Today I received an e-mail from the McGraw-Hill (and, yes, I’m naming names) telling me they are sending the book. It was a stock boilerplate form e-mail with my name and the name of the book stuck in the proper places, so this was not a quickly dashed-off missive. Here is part of the text:
Thank you for your interest in Perkins: American Tradition in Literature, Volume 2, 11/e. A copy of the text is on it’s way to you and should arrive in about a week.
I’m thinking of calling Lynne Truss.
The Hobgoblin of Little Minds 
You would think the publishers of literature texts would hire people who know something about apostrophes. Sigh.
what is wrong with the world? 🙂
Your going to cry? Thats to bad!!!! They should of caught they’re mistakes. Are their grammer books any good?
😉
And I’m sure the e-mail said : this is an automatic e-mail, please do not respond. Not even someone to remind of basic grammar rules… I hope it’s not the same guy who edits the anthology!
Ah, the lost art of proofreading or giving a damn about what you write. I work in publishing, and oh, the horror stories I could tell.
Just surrender now. Resistance is useless, as the Borg say.
🙂 I can see Lynne grinning from ear to ear.
Maybe their copy editor should eat shits and leave, or something like that.
You can see now why those of us who work in publishing have completely dry tear ducts after thirteen years.