Book description
John Crace's 'Digested Read' column in the Guardian has
rightly acquired a cult following. Each week fans avidly devour his
latest razor-sharp literary assassination, while authors turn
tremblingly to the appropriate page of the review section, fearful
that it may be their turn to be mercilessly sent up.
Now he turns his critical eye on the classics of the last century,
offering bite-sized pastiches of everything from Mrs Dalloway
to Trainspotting via Lolita and The Great Gatsby
. Those who have never quite got around to reading A
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man will be delighted to find
its essence distilled into a handful of paragraphs. Those who have
never really enjoyed Lord of the Flies will be pleased to find
it hilariously parodied in an easily swallowable 982 words. And those
who find all such works a little highbrow will be relieved to
discover, between the covers of this book, John Crace's take on the
likes of Ian Fleming, P. G. Wodehouse and the Highway Code.
Witty and sharp, this is essential reading both for those who
genuinely love literature and for those who merely want to appear
ridiculously well read.
John Crace is a G
uardian
staff feature writer and columnist, and author of the regular 'Digested
Read' and 'Digested Classic' columns.
