The Princess Bride

It's hard to argue with a classic, and honestly this book is much better than the movie. Goldman's constant asides are just hilarious, even if he does have a seriously warped view of history (but then, that's half the fun). And hats off to him for creating a new literary genre: fictional editing. That said, creating new genres is clearly a heady mix of strong brandy and, well, more strong brandy, and like Indigo he gets rather too indulgent with his laboriously long introductions and side tracks of his own side tracks (I am reminded of Haydn, who, having invented the symphony, proceed to write over 100 of the things; or Hugo, having invented the saga, gave sagas a permanently bad name by inserting entire chapters on Parisian architecture). But I suspect this is Goldman at his deliberately ironic worst: having editorially railed against Morgenstern's extended detours on Florinese politics, or on baggage packing & unpacking, he himself proceeds to do the same. So, until a non-fictional editor does a fresh edition without Goldman's boring bits, feel free to not read the introductions. They add nothing to the plot and you won't miss anything. And enjoy uproariously!

And if not the best book, it's definitely up there among the best. The movie is equally brilliant.

Great for kids, and for adults. I can't wait to read this to my daughter