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May 13, 2007
Condensed books returning
WSJ: Short Is Good: The concise joys of condensed books -- and the virtues of brevity. New condensed books by Orion Books may make reading condensed books respectable. Terry Teachout adds
that reading Reader's Digest condensed books as a child, led him to read longer versions of the books, in some cases.
Like Orion's Compact Editions, Condensed Books came in for a fair amount of teasing. Betty Comden and Adolph Green, for instance, wrote a very funny song in which they speculated on how the Digest's editors might have summed up "Gone With the Wind": "Scarlett O'Hara's a spoiled pet/She wants everything that she can get/The one thing she can't get is Rhett/The end."
Posted by eubie at 9:12 PM permalink
Coke or Pop?
Below is the graphic representation of an online poll where people give the common name. Study began several years ago.
Links about the study are BoingBoing: Map of words used for "carbonated beverage" in USA, by county and Gadling: Soda, Pop, or Coke?Generic Names for Soft Drinks by County
Image from BoingBoing
Posted by eubie at 8:32 AM permalink