Book Review: Long Story Short: 100 Classic Books in Three Panels by Lisa Brown

Long Story Short: 100 Classic Books in Three Panels
by Lisa Brown (YA 741.5 Bro)

For anyone who remembers Cliff’s Notes (which originated right here in Lincoln, NE in the late 1950s), or the more recent SparkNotes (which launched in the late 1990s), author/illustrator Lisa Brown is here to give you even more abbreviated study guides to some of the classic works of English-language literature! For some time, Brown (wife of author Daniel Handler — a.k.a. Lemony Snicket) has been produced the regular cartoon “Three Panel Book Review” for the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper and its website.

 

Long Story Short compiles 100 of her “three panel reviews” (although I think she may have create some original content for this volume as well. For this collection, the reviews are broken into broad categories — “Big Thoughts”, “(Un)Happy Families”, “Jeepers! (Creatures!)”, “Love”, “Sex”, “Death” and more. Each section starts with a slightly-longer cartoon sequence, but the majority if what appears in the book are as advertised — the plot of a work of classic fiction condensed and simplified down into three simple cartoon panels. Some are simply a straight-forward synopsis of a book’s critical plot points, while others take a more humorous or satiric view of the original novel’s essence. All generally tend to be funny, even if darkly humorous.

 

Not all 100 are real winners, but I’d say I laughed at about 65% of the 100 titles profiled. Admittedly, it would help the casual reader to already be a little familiar with the works being condensed and shared. But even if you don’t know all of them, you’ll get quite a few chuckles along the way. Similarly, not all of Brown’s cartoon-style art is equal in quality across the board, but it hits its mark more often than not.

 

Wry, dry, sardonic…and sharing of love of literature. Definitely worth checking out!

[ official Long Story Short page on AmericanChickens.com — the official Lisa Brown web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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