10-Minute University, by Jim Becker, Andy Mayer, Bob Tzudiker, and Noni White

The world’s fastest-talking man is back! Here we are taken on a whirlwind tour of collegiate life, covering topics from physics to film appreciation, from philosophy to football. The humor is fast and furious, and unfortunately hit and miss as well. When discussing relativity: “So a child on Earth ages faster than her astronaut mother traveling at near-C speeds, Mom comes home young, refreshed, little Betty looks like a prune.” Evolution gets summed up as, “Natural selection sure is fun when you’re the survivor.” Eh. Comparative literature was my favorite, both for the content—everything from the Bible to Valley of the Dolls—and the structure: the world’s greatest books summed up in a 360 word run-on sentence.

First Sentence:

Welcome students.

10 Classics in 10 Minutes, by Jim Becker and Andy Mayer

I got this for Christmas and it is pretty funny. In less than 300 words per story, some of the greatest literature of all time is amusingly summarized. Moby Dick, Gone With the Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Grapes of Wrath, Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby, A Streetcar Named Desire, Alice in Wonderland, Oliver Twist, and The Odyssey all get the treatment. Each recap is preceded by a quick introduction as well, containing such gems as, “[Oliver Twist is a] work of prestigious length, it is no surprise Dickens was paid by the word.” And “[The Adventures of Robin Hood] is the one story everyone knows but no one has read.” Not laugh-out-loud funny, but certainly amusing. The accompanying CD reads the stories for you; great for a morning commute where you want to get away from the news.

First Sentence:

Moby Dick is a true American classic.