History Main / WorldsShortestBook

* Lampshaded in ''{{Airplane}}'' with "Famous Jewish Sports Legends". It's just a pamphlet.

* Played with in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''. Dogbert is writing an encyclopedia, but its mostly on him. Although he has a section on Canada which simply says "Canada has trees." This was, incidentally, ''[[HillariousInHindsight before]]'' the advent of the common [[TheWikiRule wiki]].

* Played with in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''. Dogbert is writing an encyclopedia, but its mostly on him. Although he has a section on Canada which simply says "Canada has trees."

* Played with in {{Dilbert}}. Dogbert is writing an encyclopedia, but its mostly on him. Although he has a section on Canada which simply says "Canada has trees."

* An inversion from ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'':

* In ''The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged)'', one of the players announces a reading of "the funniest sections of the book of Job." Awkward silence ensues.

* ''The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged)'' has a reading of "the funniest sections of the book of Job," which is a few seconds of awkward silence.

Contrast WroteTheBook.

[[folder: Magazines]]

* ''Dynamite'', a magazine aimed at pre-teens from 1974-92 sold in those "Arrow Books" flyers they gave out in elementary school, did an article like this. "The Joy of Homework" was one title, as was something like "My Greatest Baseball Victories" by Charlie Brown.

[[folder: Film]]

* Lampshaded in ''{{Airplane}}'' with "Famous Jewish Sports Legends". It's just a pamphlet.

[[folder: Literature]]

* ''WhoseLineIsItAnyway'':
-->'''Drew Carey''': The shortest book ever written.\\
'''Chip Esten''': [[BritishTeeth British Dentistry]].

* Inverted in ''OrderOfTheStick,'' [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0212.html when Roy makes a couple assumptions about]] [[LovableRogue Haley]].

[[/folder]]

Sometimes the title says it all ("The Amish Phone Directory"), and sometimes the author of the book is the key ("What I Wouldn't Do for Money" by Dennis Rodman). Occasionally inverted where what someone ''doesn't'' know is said to be a ''large'' book. [[CompletelyMissingThePoint (Which, in ]][[RealLife real life]] [[CompletelyMissingThePoint would be the case for everyone because there is an incredible amount of information in the universe that you would need to have an astonishingly huge mental capacity to retain it)]].

* ''MadMagazine'' occasionally had a shelf of these, usually political- or current events-themed. A few examples:

* Nixon was also the subject of a ''{{National Lampoon}}'' one not long after his resignation that claimed that the new book "Friends of Richard Nixon" was one page shorter than "Famous Antarctic Television Personalities of the Eighteenth Century." It went on to note that then-President GeraldFord said he had been "reading it all week, finding it challenging in its scope."

* Played with in {{Dilbert}}. Dogbert is writing an encyclopedia, but its mostly on him. Although he has a section on Canada which simply says "Canada has trees."

'''Chip Esten''': [[BritishTeeth British Dentistry]].

[[/folder]]

* Inverted in ''OrderOfTheStick,'' [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0212.html when Roy makes a couple assumptions about]] [[LovableRogue Hayley]].
-->'''Roy''': Woah, you?! Helping someone other than yourself? [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness I don't believe it!]]
-->'''Hayley:''' Excuse me? (Angrily) Since when did you become the ultimate authority on me? If you took everything you don't know about me, and put it all together, it would get a -16 size penalty to AC!
[[/folder]]

----

* ''Dynamite'' magazine did this once. "The Joy of Homework" was one title, as was something like "My Greatest Baseball Victories" by Charlie Brown. Dynamite was a magazine aimed at pre-teens from 1974-92, and was sold in those "Arrow Books" flyers you got in elementary school.

* From ''Discworld/ReaperMan'':
-->'''The Dean''': But you don't know anything about guerrilla warfare!\\
'''[[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys The Librarian]]''': ''[surprisingly expressive gesture indicating that that may be so, but what he doesn't know about ''orangutan'' warfare could possibly be written on the very small pounded up remains of the Dean]''

Sometimes the title says it all ("The Amish Phone Directory"), and sometimes the author of the book is the key ("What I Wouldn't Do for Money" by Dennis Rodman). Occasionally inverted where what someone ''doesn't'' know is said to be a ''large'' book. (Which, in [[RealLife real life]] would be the case for everyone because there is an incredible amount of information in the universe that you would need to have an astonishingly huge mental capacity to retain it).

Sometimes the title says it all ("The Amish Phone Directory"), and sometimes the author of the book is the key ("What I Wouldn't Do for Money" by Dennis Rodman). Occasionally inverted where what someone ''doesn't'' know is said to be a ''large'' book. (Which, in [[Real Life]] would be the case for everyone because there is an incredible amount of information in the universe that you would need to have an astonishingly huge mental capacity to retain it).

Sometimes the title says it all ("The Amish Phone Directory"), and sometimes the author of the book is the key ("What I Wouldn't Do for Money" by Dennis Rodman). Occasionally inverted where what someone ''doesn't'' know is said to be a ''large'' book.

--> '''Calvin''': On today's agenda, we'll make a list of what girls are ''good'' for. Obliviously this will be a short meeting!

* When the protagonist of "DoesMyHeadLookBigInThis?" is taunted by TheLibby about her religion, she makes an offhand comment about finding the shortest book she ever read called "My Thoughts by Tia Thompson" (the libby's name). The libby gives up for the time being.

* Inverted in ''SchlockMercenary'':