An item in this weekend's Review diary has drawn our attention to the work of one David Bader, an author who has taken it upon himself to distil 100 of the world's greatest works of literature into just 17 syllables. His book, Haiku U, (which follows on from two other forays into publishing, Haikus for Jews and Zen Judaism) takes no prisoners, nimbly grappling with cows as sacred as Aristotle, Proust and Machiavelli, and comes up with some hilariously neat summaries of their books. Our favourite so far is his reworking of Nabokov's Lolita:
Lecherous linguist - he lays low and is laid low after laying Lo.
Find out more about his book here: and, of course, feel free to provide us with some Monday morning entertainment by giving us your own versions. To get the ball rolling, here's our 17-syllable King Lear:
Foolish, fond old man Sees, too late, the benefits of Only children.
We look forward to seeing you do better …
