Why spend weeks slogging through The Iliad when you can just read the haiku? From Homer to Milton to Dostoyevsky, the classics are finally within reach of today's busy readers.

In the sixteenth century Zen monks in Japan developed the haiku, a poem consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables. Now, in One hundred great books in haiku, David Bader applies this ancient poetic form to the literary canon. The formal requirements of the haiku have, admittedly, necessitated a few cuts: characters, plot, dialogue and descriptive passages aren't what they were. Still, these are small sacrifices in view of the huge savings in time and shelf space. Avoid eyestrain, reduce deforestation and show off your literary prowess at cocktail parties. It's the perfect gift for book lovers with short attention spans.