A bluffer's way with words

Your last big read was the cornflake packet - and you think Pride And Prejudice was the movie prequel to Bridget Jones.

No matter, because the ultimate bluffer's guide to literary know-how guarantees instant erudition at a dinner party near you.

A website is offering intellectually embarrassed internet users pocketsized summaries of the literary greats.

From Dostoevsky to Dickens and Proust, even the heftiest of novels are shrunk to a digestible 25 words or less.

"High-principled woman who is not so superficial as to be taken in by wealth and good looks chooses the handsome shaggable one anyway" may sound like the epitome of modern chick lit.

In fact, it is one contributor's perky version of Jane Austen's aforementioned Pride And Prejudice (later a film starring Colin Firth).

What started as a challenge from the creators of the I Love Books website has become an online craze. Hundreds of browsers are logging on daily to offer mini-versions of their favourite reads.