Greg Edwards is a comedian, actor, and writer. One of his web series is "Thug Notes," which aims to educate people about literature using street language. The character who does the educating is Sparky Sweets, Ph.D (played by Edwards). Hilarious.
A selection of Sparky's teachings have been collected in this book, and it is impressive. The street language is no more difficult to decipher than some of Shakespeare's work, but it is best read aloud to get the most meaning and full effect. I actually like this book version better than the performed version because there is more depth: character sketches, themes and plot descriptions, Several of my personal favorites are here: Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, and Fahrenheit 451.Would have liked to see Siddhartha and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in the written collection, but no matter; they are available online.
This could be the new Cliff's Notes. (It's more interesting and the online version is free.) Edwards admits that this project came about in part to combat the "exclusionary" way that academics present the classics. I think he's on to something. (YouTube list of all the Thug Notes performances here.)
Very highly recommended.
I obtained a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. The image above links to the Amazon page for the book.
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