Peek inside the backpack of Zhou Tao, a middle school student at Beijing's Shijingshan school, and you'll find four grammar texts, three math texts, one chemistry book, two books on physics, five on English, three on political science, not to mention an array of extracurricular and tutorial books.

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In the back of the bookstore prior to his interview, Mr. Lutz discussed some recent and disappointing trends in punctuation and grammar, a subject about which he is writing a book.

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"People get passionate about grammar, " says Mr. Appleman, author of a book on business writing.

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With a grammar and words to fill it, the reader is equipped for the business end of the book: reference.

ECONOMIST: Fantasists