90 CLASSIC BOOKS FOR PEOPLE IN A HURRY

This collection of humorous cartoons uses the four panel grid to provide Cliffs Notes crack: a super-rush of literary info in no time flat. Whole epics like Ulysses are reduced to four panels—actually three since panel one is always used for the title and not much else. The book selection includes a nice mix of warhorse classics and more modern fare—A Confederacy of Dunces and American Psycho—as well as genre favorites—The Lord of the Rings and Watchmen. The descriptions of each of the 90 books offered are best when they list the plot twists and developments, but Lange includes his own comic punch lines for most of the stories. The cute and amusing cartoons use a scratchy style reminiscent of a less polished Ivan Brunetti or Johnny Ryan. The rhythm of the four panels makes this a tough book to put down and will provide a quick brushup for folks going literary party hopping or book fair wandering. (Mar.)