Brideshead Abbreviated

A swift kick up the backside to some of modern literature’s most iconic works. Accurate, merciless and very, very funny – Sarah WatersI’ve read all these books at least twice - and now I’ve read John Crace’s digested versions I wonder why I bothered – Will SelfA genius and a madman. The meanest, funniest parodist alive – Joanna BriscoeFor the last 10 years [Crace’s] ‘Digested Reads’ have been reason enough to buy the Guardian. Taking a well-known novel, he gives a brief distillation of the plot while capturing - often perfectly - the tone of its author. At the same time, he jabs a sharpened elbow into their pomposities and limitations * Spectator *Beautifully observed and poisonously cruel … laugh-out-loud funny * The Lady *With witty, accurate impressions of writers’ styles, this is the best way to appear incredibly well read without getting bogged down in hundreds of pages of James Joyce or Ernest Hemingway * Reader’s Digest *A fun read … Crace takes no prisoners as he chews up and spits out a century of literature. An amusing treat for the well-read and a fantastic cheat’s guide for those who feel they probably should have read more * Press Association *One hundred classics of modern literature are wickedly abridged by a smart satirist * Saga *

John Crace is the Guardian’s parliamentary sketch writer and author of the ‘Digested Read’ columns. He is the author of I Never Promised you a Rose Garden- A short guide to modern politics, the coalition and the general election and also Baby Alarm- A Neurotic’s Guide to Fatherhood, Vertigo- One Football Fan’s Fear of Success , Harry’s Games- Inside the Mind of Harry Redknapp, Brideshead Abbreviated- the Digested Read of the Twentieth Century and The Digested Twenty-first Century. He lives in London.