Shrinklits: Seventy of the World's Towering Classics Cut Down to Size

By Maurice Sagoff

Book Overview

From Antigone to Lolita , from Beowulf to The Hobbit . The world's greatest literature is summarized in Maurice Sagoff's hilarious light verse. The result-70 intoxicating distillations of the classics everyone has been taking far too seriously for far too long. Selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club and a New York Times Best Seller. 180,000 copies in print.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0894800795
• ISBN13: 9780894800795
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Workman Pub Co
• Length: 111 Pages
• Weight: 0.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.5" x 0.3" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

What a wonderful and inventive collection

I found an earlier version of this at a Bed and Breakfast, and had to have it when I got home. This version has 20 more shrinklits, all of which reveal a man who clearly understood both the content and the style of each of the works. Nothing like it. I bought one for every lover of literature I know.

Every Reader Should Own This

I can only add to what others have written. Each of these "ShrinkLits" (Shrunken Literature) is unbelievably clever, but without being formulaic. Another reviewer mentioned Beowulf. Sure, I liked the couple Danish but I laughed out loud at, "Later on as King of Geats, He performed prodigious feats. Till he met a foe too tough (Non-Beodegradable stuff)." Or how about The Count of Monte Cristo, which ends "Tremendous wealth helps one compete. Persistence pays, revenge is sweet. The combination's hard to beat." The Bridge of San Luis Rey - a terrible book and a worse movie - in its ShrinkLit form comes out a beautiful poem. I don't know why Maurice Sagoff never made a bigger splash, but this one book is a winner.

Fun for People with Too Much Education!!!

This book is FUN! Here's a test: "Monster Grendel's taste is plainish. Breakfast? Just a couple Danish" If you got the joke in the rhymed couplet above, you will thoroughly enjoy this small book. It will surely amuse anyone who has both love for the classics and a sense of humor. Its condensed and witty renditions ofttimes shine new light on old works. It's a fine little gift for the person who has read everything!

Absolutely Hilarious

This truly amusing book will take you back to your days of required reading and give you a new appreciation of these works. While not at all a replacement for these classics. Students should read these too in an effort to 'not hate' what they are reading. The cover art is funny too. Check out the picture for "Antigone"