Beowulf on the Beach: 

What to Love and What to Skip in Literature's 50 Greatest Hits

Cliffs Notes meets Sedaris. Jack Murnighan... has given us a ridiculously entertaining guide. Beowulf on the Beach is funny, smart, passionate and wise. Just having it on your shelf will raise your IQ.
— A.J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically
Murnighan’s…fresh, funny voice... will attract devout readers [and] the less-well-read will be pleased with Murnighan’s accessibility and charm.
— Publishers Weekly
Jack Murnighan’s enthusiasm for the great books — and his understand of why they still matter — is genuinely infectious. Reading Beowulf on the Beach is like belonging to the most stimulating and hilarious book club you could possibly imagine.
— Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good For You and Emergence

The Naughty Bits:

The Steamiest and Most Scandalous Sex Scenes in the World's Great Books

Learned...Highly recommended.
— Library Journal
A great idea... Good-natured, erudite.
— Publishers Weekly
Murnighan [covers] the range of human sexuality with energetic entries and adding smart, revelatory and cheeky introductions.
— San Francisco Chronicle

Classic Nasty

More Naughty Bits: Rollicking Guide to Hot Sex in Great Books from The Iliad to The Corrections

[Has] a quality rare in anthologies: The editor’s bright riffs utterly outshine
most of the material...His genial strain of irreverence delights.
— The Philadelphia Inquirer
An ideal bedside book...Insightful.
— New Pages Book Reviews
Warm, open, sexy, and fun to read
— Abeer Hoque

Much Ado About Loving

What Our Favorite Novels Can Teach You About Date Expectations, Not So Great Gatsbys, and Love in the Time of Internet Personals

A treat for any book lover, happily mated or cheerfully single.
— USA Today
Probably the first time Virgil has been used for romantic advice, at least in this century — and that alone is an achievement.
— New York Daily News
Much Ado About Loving… plumb[s] great literature for relationship advice.
— New York TImes Book Review