E O Parrott – “How to Become Ridiculously Well-read in One Evening”

 

A great little fun-filled book containing a collection of literary encapsulations which précis many of the great works of literature. I cannot do better than give an example:-
John Steinbeck – Of Mice & Men (by Basil Ransome-Davis)
Two working men named George and Lennie,
Who slaved away for every penny,
Dreamed, when their working days were over,
Of living, as it were, in clover
On their own spread in rural ease
With rabbits hopping round the trees.
But Lennie, though a t heart a child,
Would, in a panic, grow so wild
That George, his minder, always feared
That Lennie would do something weird.
Alas! It happened, George’s pal.
Teased by a wanton femme fatale,
The boss’s son’s seductive wife.
Freaked out and took the lady’s life.
At which George, with an anguished frown
And smoking gun, put Lennie down.
The moral is that violent habits
Do not consort with keeping rabbits.

So now, if you haven’t read Of Mice and Men, you no longer need to!