I would never even consider reading a book published without standard punctuation conventions. Punctuation, including quotation marks, substantially contributes to clarity and meaning. (See Lynne Truss' book for one of the best arguments ever presented on this topic:
http://www.amazon.com/Eats-Shoots-Le...ots+and+Leaves) Absent these visual clues and cues, a reader must work significantly harder to interpret what the author has written, thus diluting his message in basic language comprehension struggles.
I am no fan of "whole language" methods, and this is clearly an extension of those ridiculous practices. Call me old-fashioned, but I've
never had a reader tell me that he misinterpreted my writing for reasons of grammar or punctuation.