That Big Gray Little Brown Book

I have a very short ... hmmm... what ? errr... attention span. I can never get through novels, and I don't even like reading long short stories-- if it's over 10 pages, I wont bother (I once made an exception for Beggars in Spain, and throughly enjoyed it, but that's just because Nancy Kress is an outstanding writer!!!). that's why I was deliriously happy when I found Little and Brown's (that's the publisher's name-- the actual book is big and gray) Barlett's Book of Anecdotes (they're more famous for their book of quotations, but those are too short even for me!) . It's really a reference work that's not meant to be read straight through, but I broke the rules and read it anyway. Its FANTASTIC!!! Each anecdote is like a little tiny story of its own, and its only 1/10th to 1/5th of a page. Even the longest stories are only half a page long!. Its like having a book of 1000+ short stories. The only thing that might beat it is The Complete Peanuts Collection -- over 17,000 short stories that are mostly pictures. WOW!