Book of the month - Calling your bluff

The blurb on the back cover of this substantial (512 pages) paperback describes it perfectly and succinctly. This is a book for: "those who have little time to read, yet would like the advantages that come with being well-read".

And that's exactly what it is, a bluffers anthology of 35 of the greatest literary masterpieces ever written. It begins with a 15-page synopsis of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and ends with an 11-page summing-up of Plato's Republic. In-between it gives us the lazy person's précis of great works like Jane Eyre, War and Peace, Homer's Odyssey and Henry Fielding's Tom Jones. Although why anyone should jib at reading a sparkling piece of writing like Tom Jones is debatable.

Each summation is written in easy-to-understand English, which can be a blessing for anyone who has ever tried to plough through Das Kapital by Karl Marx, or Dante Alighieri's Divina Commedia (with apologies to Signor Benigni).

What you do miss is the sense of style that each great author lends to his or her work. A Cheat's Guide to the Classics is available from Allied Retail and Commercial Ltd at the knock-down price of just €5.90. An absolute snip.