diff --git a/ext/bamfcsv/bamfcsv_ext.c b/ext/bamfcsv/bamfcsv_ext.c
index 2eab1c8..83477e0 100644
--- a/ext/bamfcsv/bamfcsv_ext.c
+++ b/ext/bamfcsv/bamfcsv_ext.c
@@ -98,10 +98,7 @@ VALUE build_matrix(char *buf, int bufsize) {
   for (cur = buf; cur < buf+bufsize; cur++) {
 
     if (*cur == '"') {
-      if (in_quote)
-        in_quote = 0;
-      else
-        in_quote = 1;
+      in_quote = !in_quote;
     }
 
     if (!in_quote) {
@@ -166,7 +163,7 @@ VALUE mm_parse(const char *file) {
   return matrix;
 }
 
-VALUE do_the_parsing(VALUE self, VALUE file) {
+VALUE read_path(VALUE self, VALUE file) {
 
   return mm_parse(RSTRING_PTR(file));
 
@@ -175,6 +172,6 @@ VALUE do_the_parsing(VALUE self, VALUE file) {
 void Init_bamfcsv() {
 
   VALUE module = rb_define_module("BAMFCSV");
-  rb_define_module_function(module, "parse", do_the_parsing, 1);
+  rb_define_module_function(module, "read_path", read_path, 1);
 
 }
diff --git a/ext/bamfcsv/bamfcsv_ext.h b/ext/bamfcsv/bamfcsv_ext.h
index b1387d9..3b34570 100644
--- a/ext/bamfcsv/bamfcsv_ext.h
+++ b/ext/bamfcsv/bamfcsv_ext.h
@@ -13,10 +13,6 @@ struct s_Cell {
   struct s_Cell *next_cell;
 };
 
-VALUE mm_parse(const char *file);
-
-VALUE do_the_parsing(VALUE self, VALUE file);
-
 void Init_bamfcsv();
 
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/bamfcsv.rb b/lib/bamfcsv.rb
index 18242f0..33f424f 100644
--- a/lib/bamfcsv.rb
+++ b/lib/bamfcsv.rb
@@ -2,4 +2,11 @@
 
 module BAMFCSV
 
+  def self.read(thing_to_read)
+    if  String === thing_to_read
+      raise ArgumentError.new("#{thing_to_read} is not a flat file.") unless File.file? thing_to_read
+      read_path(thing_to_read)
+    end
+  end
+
 end
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/bamf-comma-comma.csv b/spec/fixtures/bamf-comma-comma.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a463cfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/bamf-comma-comma.csv
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+BAMF,,CSV
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/double-quotes.csv b/spec/fixtures/double-quotes.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b42a435
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/double-quotes.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+this is a semicolon:, ;
+this is a comma:," ,"
+this is a quote:," """
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/empty.csv b/spec/fixtures/empty.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/escapes.csv b/spec/fixtures/escapes.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b10e76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/escapes.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+this is a semicolon:, ;
+this is a comma:," ,"
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/one-column.csv b/spec/fixtures/one-column.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9671ad3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/one-column.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+BAMF
+CSV
diff --git a/spec/fixtures/terminated-with-cr.csv b/spec/fixtures/terminated-with-cr.csv
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..422c2b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/fixtures/terminated-with-cr.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+a
+b
diff --git a/spec/lib/bamfcsv_spec.rb b/spec/lib/bamfcsv_spec.rb
index e054b40..fa8d5f8 100644
--- a/spec/lib/bamfcsv_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/lib/bamfcsv_spec.rb
@@ -2,12 +2,48 @@
 
 describe BAMFCSV do
   it "has a parse method" do
-    BAMFCSV.should respond_to(:parse)
+    BAMFCSV.should respond_to(:read)
   end
 
-  describe "#parse" do
+  describe "#read" do
     it "is a matrix given a filename" do
-      BAMFCSV.parse("spec/fixtures/test.csv").should be_instance_of Array
+      BAMFCSV.read("spec/fixtures/test.csv").should be_instance_of Array
+    end
+
+    it "is an empty array passed an empty file" do
+      BAMFCSV.read("spec/fixtures/empty.csv").should == []
+    end
+
+    it "is a 1xn matrix with a one column csv file" do
+      BAMFCSV.read("spec/fixtures/one-column.csv").should == [["BAMF"],["CSV"]]
+    end
+
+    it "interprets empty cells correctly" do
+      BAMFCSV.read("spec/fixtures/bamf-comma-comma.csv").should == [["BAMF","","CSV"]]
+    end
+
+    it "escapes cells that are quoted" do
+      BAMFCSV.read("spec/fixtures/escapes.csv").should == [["this is a semicolon:", " ;"],["this is a comma:", " ,"]]
+    end
+
+    it "escapes cells that are quoted" do
+      BAMFCSV.read("spec/fixtures/double-quotes.csv").should == [["this is a semicolon:", " ;"], ["this is a comma:", " ,"], ["this is quote:", " \""]]
+    end
+
+    it "doesn't create a row when the file terminates with [CR]LF" do
+      BAMFCSV.read("spec/fixtures/terminated-with-cr.csv").should == [["a"],["b"]]
+    end
+
+    it "raises Errno::ENOENT when the file does not exist" do
+      expect do
+        BAMFCSV.read("spec/fixtures/this-file-does-not-not-exist.csv")
+      end.should raise_error Errno::ENOENT
+    end
+
+    it "raises Errno::EISDIR when the file is not a flat file" do
+      expect do
+        BAMFCSV.read("spec/fixtures/")
+      end.should raise_error Errno::EISDIR
     end
   end
 end