diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3d1d12f..28ff388 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@
 
 ## Structured argument parsing for Go
 
+```shell
+go get github.com/alexflint/go-arg
+```
+
 Declare the command line arguments your program accepts by defining a struct.
 
 ```go
@@ -24,16 +28,16 @@ hello true
 
 ```go
 var args struct {
-	Foo string `arg:"required"`
-	Bar bool
+	ID      int `arg:"required"`
+	Timeout time.Duration
 }
 arg.MustParse(&args)
 ```
 
 ```shell
 $ ./example
-usage: example --foo FOO [--bar] 
-error: --foo is required
+usage: example --id ID [--timeout TIMEOUT]
+error: --id is required
 ```
 
 ### Positional arguments
@@ -161,10 +165,51 @@ usage: samples [--foo FOO] [--bar BAR]
 error: you must provide one of --foo and --bar
 ```
 
-### Installation
+### Custom parsing
 
+You can implement your own argument parser by implementing `encoding.TextUnmarshaler`:
+
+```go
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/alexflint/go-arg"
+)
+
+// Accepts command line arguments of the form "head.tail"
+type NameDotName struct {
+	Head, Tail string
+}
+
+func (n *NameDotName) UnmarshalText(b []byte) error {
+	s := string(b)
+	pos := strings.Index(s, ".")
+	if pos == -1 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("missing period in %s", s)
+	}
+	n.Head = s[:pos]
+	n.Tail = s[pos+1:]
+	return nil
+}
+
+func main() {
+	var args struct {
+		Name *NameDotName
+	}
+	arg.MustParse(&args)
+	fmt.Printf("%#v\n", args.Name)
+}
+```
 ```shell
-go get github.com/alexflint/go-arg
+$ ./example --name=foo.bar
+&main.NameDotName{Head:"foo", Tail:"bar"}
+
+$ ./example --name=oops
+usage: example [--name NAME]
+error: error processing --name: missing period in "oops"
 ```
 
 ### Documentation
diff --git a/parse.go b/parse.go
index 39eb52c..3895ce9 100644
--- a/parse.go
+++ b/parse.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package arg
 
 import (
+	"encoding"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
@@ -20,11 +21,15 @@ type spec struct {
 	env        string
 	wasPresent bool
 	isBool     bool
+	fieldName  string // for generating helpful errors
 }
 
 // ErrHelp indicates that -h or --help were provided
 var ErrHelp = errors.New("help requested by user")
 
+// The TextUnmarshaler type in reflection form
+var textUnsmarshalerType = reflect.TypeOf([]encoding.TextUnmarshaler{}).Elem()
+
 // MustParse processes command line arguments and exits upon failure
 func MustParse(dest ...interface{}) *Parser {
 	p, err := NewParser(dest...)
@@ -80,31 +85,42 @@ func NewParser(dests ...interface{}) (*Parser, error) {
 			}
 
 			spec := spec{
-				long: strings.ToLower(field.Name),
-				dest: v.Field(i),
+				long:      strings.ToLower(field.Name),
+				dest:      v.Field(i),
+				fieldName: t.Name() + "." + field.Name,
 			}
 
-			// Get the scalar type for this field
-			scalarType := field.Type
-			if scalarType.Kind() == reflect.Slice {
-				spec.multiple = true
-				scalarType = scalarType.Elem()
+			// Check whether this field is supported. It's good to do this here rather than
+			// wait until setScalar because it means that a program with invalid argument
+			// fields will always fail regardless of whether the arguments it recieved happend
+			// to exercise those fields.
+			if !field.Type.Implements(textUnsmarshalerType) {
+				scalarType := field.Type
+				// Look inside pointer types
+				if scalarType.Kind() == reflect.Ptr {
+					scalarType = scalarType.Elem()
+				}
+				// Check for bool
+				if scalarType.Kind() == reflect.Bool {
+					spec.isBool = true
+				}
+				// Look inside slice types
+				if scalarType.Kind() == reflect.Slice {
+					spec.multiple = true
+					scalarType = scalarType.Elem()
+				}
+				// Look inside pointer types (again, in case of []*Type)
 				if scalarType.Kind() == reflect.Ptr {
 					scalarType = scalarType.Elem()
 				}
-			}
 
-			// Check for unsupported types
-			switch scalarType.Kind() {
-			case reflect.Array, reflect.Chan, reflect.Func, reflect.Interface,
-				reflect.Map, reflect.Ptr, reflect.Struct,
-				reflect.Complex64, reflect.Complex128:
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s.%s: %s fields are not supported", t.Name(), field.Name, scalarType.Kind())
-			}
-
-			// Specify that it is a bool for usage
-			if scalarType.Kind() == reflect.Bool {
-				spec.isBool = true
+				// Check for unsupported types
+				switch scalarType.Kind() {
+				case reflect.Array, reflect.Chan, reflect.Func, reflect.Interface,
+					reflect.Map, reflect.Ptr, reflect.Struct,
+					reflect.Complex64, reflect.Complex128:
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("%s.%s: %s fields are not supported", t.Name(), field.Name, scalarType.Kind())
+				}
 			}
 
 			// Look at the tag
@@ -248,7 +264,8 @@ func process(specs []*spec, args []string) error {
 		}
 
 		// if it's a flag and it has no value then set the value to true
-		if spec.dest.Kind() == reflect.Bool && value == "" {
+		// use isBool because this takes account of TextUnmarshaler
+		if spec.isBool && value == "" {
 			value = "true"
 		}
 
diff --git a/parse_test.go b/parse_test.go
index c30809d..a915910 100644
--- a/parse_test.go
+++ b/parse_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@ func parse(cmdline string, dest interface{}) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	return p.Parse(strings.Split(cmdline, " "))
+	var parts []string
+	if len(cmdline) > 0 {
+		parts = strings.Split(cmdline, " ")
+	}
+	return p.Parse(parts)
 }
 
 func TestString(t *testing.T) {
@@ -71,6 +75,25 @@ func TestInvalidDuration(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Error(t, err)
 }
 
+func TestIntPtr(t *testing.T) {
+	var args struct {
+		Foo *int
+	}
+	err := parse("--foo 123", &args)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.NotNil(t, args.Foo)
+	assert.Equal(t, 123, *args.Foo)
+}
+
+func TestIntPtrNotPresent(t *testing.T) {
+	var args struct {
+		Foo *int
+	}
+	err := parse("", &args)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Nil(t, args.Foo)
+}
+
 func TestMixed(t *testing.T) {
 	var args struct {
 		Foo  string `arg:"-f"`
@@ -359,6 +382,14 @@ func TestUnsupportedType(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestUnsupportedSliceElement(t *testing.T) {
+	var args struct {
+		Foo []interface{}
+	}
+	err := parse("--foo 3", &args)
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+}
+
+func TestUnsupportedSliceElementMissingValue(t *testing.T) {
 	var args struct {
 		Foo []interface{}
 	}
@@ -452,3 +483,61 @@ func TestEnvironmentVariableRequired(t *testing.T) {
 	MustParse(&args)
 	assert.Equal(t, "bar", args.Foo)
 }
+
+type textUnmarshaler struct {
+	val int
+}
+
+func (f *textUnmarshaler) UnmarshalText(b []byte) error {
+	f.val = len(b)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func TestTextUnmarshaler(t *testing.T) {
+	// fields that implement TextUnmarshaler should be parsed using that interface
+	var args struct {
+		Foo *textUnmarshaler
+	}
+	err := parse("--foo abc", &args)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, 3, args.Foo.val)
+}
+
+type boolUnmarshaler bool
+
+func (p *boolUnmarshaler) UnmarshalText(b []byte) error {
+	*p = len(b)%2 == 0
+	return nil
+}
+
+func TestBoolUnmarhsaler(t *testing.T) {
+	// test that a bool type that implements TextUnmarshaler is
+	// handled as a TextUnmarshaler not as a bool
+	var args struct {
+		Foo *boolUnmarshaler
+	}
+	err := parse("--foo ab", &args)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.EqualValues(t, true, *args.Foo)
+}
+
+type sliceUnmarshaler []int
+
+func (p *sliceUnmarshaler) UnmarshalText(b []byte) error {
+	*p = sliceUnmarshaler{len(b)}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func TestSliceUnmarhsaler(t *testing.T) {
+	// test that a slice type that implements TextUnmarshaler is
+	// handled as a TextUnmarshaler not as a slice
+	var args struct {
+		Foo *sliceUnmarshaler
+		Bar string `arg:"positional"`
+	}
+	err := parse("--foo abcde xyz", &args)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	require.Len(t, *args.Foo, 1)
+	assert.EqualValues(t, 5, (*args.Foo)[0])
+	assert.Equal(t, "xyz", args.Bar)
+}
diff --git a/scalar.go b/scalar.go
index a3bafe4..67b4540 100644
--- a/scalar.go
+++ b/scalar.go
@@ -8,19 +8,33 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
-var (
-	durationType        = reflect.TypeOf(time.Duration(0))
-	textUnmarshalerType = reflect.TypeOf([]encoding.TextUnmarshaler{}).Elem()
-)
-
 // set a value from a string
 func setScalar(v reflect.Value, s string) error {
 	if !v.CanSet() {
 		return fmt.Errorf("field is not exported")
 	}
 
-	// If we have a time.Duration then use time.ParseDuration
-	if v.Type() == durationType {
+	// If we have a nil pointer then allocate a new object
+	if v.Kind() == reflect.Ptr && v.IsNil() {
+		v.Set(reflect.New(v.Type().Elem()))
+	}
+
+	// Get the object as an interface
+	scalar := v.Interface()
+
+	// If it implements encoding.TextUnmarshaler then use that
+	if scalar, ok := scalar.(encoding.TextUnmarshaler); ok {
+		return scalar.UnmarshalText([]byte(s))
+	}
+
+	// If we have a pointer then dereference it
+	if v.Kind() == reflect.Ptr {
+		v = v.Elem()
+	}
+
+	// Switch on concrete type
+	switch scalar.(type) {
+	case time.Duration:
 		x, err := time.ParseDuration(s)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -29,6 +43,7 @@ func setScalar(v reflect.Value, s string) error {
 		return nil
 	}
 
+	// Switch on kind so that we can handle derived types
 	switch v.Kind() {
 	case reflect.String:
 		v.SetString(s)
@@ -57,7 +72,7 @@ func setScalar(v reflect.Value, s string) error {
 		}
 		v.SetFloat(x)
 	default:
-		return fmt.Errorf("not a scalar type: %s", v.Kind())
+		return fmt.Errorf("cannot parse argument into %s", v.Type().String())
 	}
 	return nil
 }