Commas tend to provoke anxiety, especially the series comma, used after the next-to-last item in a list, before the and or or. Following the overall trend to minimize punctuation, many writers and publications now omit the series comma. Written Work believes strongly in this final comma, and we use it unless a client’s institutional style sheet dictates otherwise. We think the book dedication quoted above presents a conclusive argument for using the series comma — unless, of course, the author’s parents actually are Ayn Rand and God.