<< VETERAN RETURNS ~ MAIN ~ MULTICULTURALISM DEAD >>

WORLD’S SHORTEST BOOK

I have in my possession a document, sourced from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture and Information, entitled “The Arab Peace Initiative”.

It is only eight pages long.

Three pages are blank.

Posted by Tim B. on 01/23/2007 at 12:51 AM
  1. Available in the fiction section of the Lakemba library.

    Posted by Ian Deans on 2007 01 23 at 12:54 AM • permalink

  2. WORLD’S SHORTEST BOOKS

    Vol. 1 - All Men Know About Women.
    Vol. 2 - French War Heroes
    Vol. 3 - The Big Book of Australian Foreplay

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 01 23 at 01:01 AM • permalink

  3. How many pages are taken up by writing and editing credits and flowery tributes to King Abdullah?

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 01 23 at 01:02 AM • permalink

  4. #3, Spiny:

    4 and 1/2.

    Posted by Grimmy on 2007 01 23 at 01:06 AM • permalink

  5. Mock if you must, but there is an excellent recipe for pigeon soup provided by the ministry.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 01 23 at 01:09 AM • permalink

  6. Nah, the shortest book I ever read was the “Penguin Anthology of Islamic Humour.” It had one page and that was blank.

    Posted by mareeS on 2007 01 23 at 01:12 AM • permalink

  7. How many pages does 3..2..1..fire! take anyway?

    Posted by yojimbo on 2007 01 23 at 01:13 AM • permalink

  8. I think the same publishing house brought out The Rugged Individualist’s Guide to Self-Reliance by Traceee Hutchinson and Googling to Win: a Fact-Checker’s Bible by Terry Lane.

    Posted by cuckoo on 2007 01 23 at 01:13 AM • permalink

  9. It is only eight pages long.

    Three pages are blank.

    Sadly, Saddam ran out of blood before they could finish printing it…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2007 01 23 at 01:14 AM • permalink

  10. Three pages are blank.

    National security redaction, nothing to see here just keep moving.

    Posted by yojimbo on 2007 01 23 at 01:15 AM • permalink

  11. #2

    Vol.4- The DNC Guide to Individual Liberty and Free Markets-unabridged.

    Posted by yojimbo on 2007 01 23 at 01:21 AM • permalink

  12. How much data should it involve? After all, most past Arab Peace Initiatives have involved not much else but humiliating capitulation to numerically inferior forces, usually in a very short timeframe*.

    I believe they’ve had intensive training from the French and the Italians.

    *Usually along these lines-
    1/. Much huffing and puffing, posturing, chest-beating and bullying poses.
    2/. Attempt “Charles Atlas Beach Bully” sand-kicking on apparently smaller foe.
    3/. Apparently smaller foe gives short sharp kick to the bollocks.
    4/. Run like poodle, claim victimhood.

    Posted by Habib on 2007 01 23 at 01:21 AM • permalink

  13. Trawling their website proves two things:
    1 Take the West’s thirst for oil out and
    2 Take the West’s technology out…
    and they’re all back to nomadic goat herders.

    Posted by Bonmot on 2007 01 23 at 01:21 AM • permalink

  14. Read this page without laughing and you’re a better person than me.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 01 23 at 01:26 AM • permalink

  15. #13, Bonmot, “,,,back to nomadic goat herders”? They’re still nomadic goat herders (and they still do that other herding thing with goats).

    Posted by mareeS on 2007 01 23 at 01:29 AM • permalink

  16. Is it illustrated?

    Posted by Dan Lewis on 2007 01 23 at 01:29 AM • permalink

  17. Well, at least Antony Loewenstein can say he contributed three pages to the Arab Peace Initiative.

    Posted by Jack Lacton on 2007 01 23 at 01:33 AM • permalink

  18. #14

    Read this page without laughing and you’re a better person than me.

    I couldn’t do it. Do you remember in late 2004 when the Saudis took out full-page ads in the major Australian newspapers (and Fairfax)?

    I still have a copy. It said: “The Saudi Government has pursued an anti-terrorism
    policy by all possible means for many years both before and since September 11”.

    It was unclear whether “all possible means” was able to stop Saudi terrorists attacking
    the World Trade Centre or the massacre
    in Beslan.

    It then portrayed the Saudi Kingdom as philanthropic noting that 4% of Saudi Arabia’s GNP goes toward “development projects”.

    They didn’t actually detail precisely what
    these “projects” were. I guessed they included funding of hardline Wahabbist
    Madrasas where Militant Islam is indoctrinated, but I could be wrong…

    The ‘funniest’ bit was where it claimed “The Kingdom will continue to work for mutual
    respect and increased understanding”.

    There was no footnote detailing whether this applied to women and Jews.

    Not a lot has changed, though our Government seems to be throwing plenty of money their way.

    Posted by Dan Lewis on 2007 01 23 at 01:34 AM • permalink

  19. I thought the shortest was the Big Book of Islamic IQs?

    Posted by andycanuck on 2007 01 23 at 01:44 AM • permalink

  20. #5 Infidel Tiger, where does one get musk?  Would Musk Sticks do?

    Posted by anthony_r on 2007 01 23 at 01:49 AM • permalink

  21. Er, you say that like you’re surprised, Tim. So which is it, the volume of the document, or the brevity?

    Posted by kae on 2007 01 23 at 01:51 AM • permalink

  22. No doubt 4 of those written pages are taken up with the most effective techniques of beheading…..

    Posted by rbresca on 2007 01 23 at 01:54 AM • permalink

  23. Put out by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture and Information

    You mean financing terror groups is called Culture now and denying it is called Information?

    Posted by Bonmot on 2007 01 23 at 01:55 AM • permalink

  24. #20 Rebase - “Musk is the name originally given to a perfume obtained originally from the strong-smelling substance secreted by a gland in the abdomen of the male musk deer” (Wikipedia).

    And I thought 6 pigeons was going to be a slight problem. I’ll be using musk sticks or lifesavers.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2007 01 23 at 01:55 AM • permalink

  25. OT - speaking of beheading, this guy must have a guardian angel watching over him.

    Talk about close call

    Posted by rbresca on 2007 01 23 at 01:56 AM • permalink

  26. Dan Lewis

    That 4%. Your reaction matched mine. Education to pull the pin on your suicide vest shouldnt really count…

    Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2007 01 23 at 02:10 AM • permalink

  27. Were those three pages marked: This page is left intentionally blank” ? (Just in case you were tempted to write something in.)

    Posted by mr magoo on 2007 01 23 at 02:11 AM • permalink

  28. #25 this guy must have a guardian angel watching over him.

    Not many people have been hafway down a Great White’s throat and lived to tell about it.
    And to have the presence of mind to poke the shark in the eye until it let go is extraordinary!  Once you’re inside the damn thing’s mouth you’d be saying “See ya Lord in a few seconds…”

    Posted by Bonmot on 2007 01 23 at 02:38 AM • permalink

  29. I’ll wait until this book comes out as a movie. Too much effort to read it.

    Posted by Penguin on 2007 01 23 at 02:39 AM • permalink

  30. A whole 8 pages (5 really), eh? Written on toilet paper, no doubt?

    Posted by EliotNess on 2007 01 23 at 02:42 AM • permalink

  31. Here’s on OT for ya. The PM has renamed the Dept of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. It’s now the Dept of Immigration and Citizenship.

    Man I love that guy! Sometimes I think he does these things just to stir the pot.

    Posted by Penguin on 2007 01 23 at 02:44 AM • permalink

  32. #25 rbresca

    Talk about close call

    Jumpin’ Jeebus, I’d have soiled my armor . . .

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2007 01 23 at 02:57 AM • permalink

  33. Can’t wait for the Expurgated Version

    Posted by Dan Lewis on 2007 01 23 at 03:55 AM • permalink

  34. I have in my possession a document, sourced from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture and Information, entitled “The Arab Peace Initiative”.

    It is only eight pages long.

    Executive Summary: Kill all the Jews. Kill all the non-Muslims, peace for all ever after..

    Posted by Dan Lewis on 2007 01 23 at 04:08 AM • permalink

  35. #1 Ian Deans,
            You mean to say there are actually verifiable works of non-fiction at the “Lakemba Library”?

    Posted by Dave Wane on 2007 01 23 at 04:30 AM • permalink

  36. #29 Penguin
    I think Mel Gibson’s snapped up the rights.

    Posted by ErnestBludger on 2007 01 23 at 04:45 AM • permalink

  37. #25

    Note to self. When swimming in ocean, always carry abalone chisel…

    Posted by JonathanH on 2007 01 23 at 04:52 AM • permalink

  38. #18, Dan,

    The website has the same first sentence you quoted but with an added clause and some strange punctuation.

    The Saudi Government has pursued an anti-terrorism policy by all possible means for many years† both before and since September 11, 2001 and is fully supportive of the war on terror.

    A cross (or dagger) followed by two exclamation marks (or bangs)?  I’m not sure what to make of that.

    Posted by Janice on 2007 01 23 at 05:03 AM • permalink

  39. Nope, the smallest book in the world is the Who’s Who of Arab Nobel Prize Winners.

    Most of that book is taken up with the insistence that the Jews turn Jerusalem over to the Muslims.  No peace without Jerusalem.  I’ll hold my breath.

    Posted by saltydog on 2007 01 23 at 05:09 AM • permalink

  40. I suppose it is printed in a large font as well to help fill the five pages.

    Posted by Hank Reardon on 2007 01 23 at 05:54 AM • permalink

  41. #40
    Fully illustrated too.

    Posted by lotocoti on 2007 01 23 at 06:01 AM • permalink

  42. #28 Bonmot -

    Not many people have been hafway down a Great White’s throat and lived to tell about it. And to have the presence of mind to poke the shark in the eye until it let go is extraordinary!  Once you’re inside the damn thing’s mouth you’d be saying “See ya Lord in a few seconds…”

    The shark made a mistake.  He didn’t know the victim was a RWDB until he had him in its jaws.  He let him go of course once he tasted the evilness coursing through the man’s blood.

    Professional courtesy as they say.

    Posted by wronwright on 2007 01 23 at 06:51 AM • permalink

  43. Infidel: you can probably skip the musk. A lot of medieval recipes (many of which probably were derived from the Middle East along with the spices that came in the trades that started up in part because of the Crusades) called for perfume to be added to food, possibly to further mask the smell of spoiled meat. I’m sure most people in the Middle East, at least in the cities, have working refrigerators but spoilage is still probably more of a problem than it is here. (On a side note, I have often thought that our ancestors must have had cast-iron guts to survive the sort of meals they often consumed. Then again, no wonder mortality was so high.)

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2007 01 23 at 07:04 AM • permalink

  44. Tim - you forgot to mention that the book is the size of a postage stamp.

    Posted by mr creosote on 2007 01 23 at 07:35 AM • permalink

  45. PS - did you hold the blank pages up to a candle to see if there is a secret message written there in invisible ink?

    Posted by mr creosote on 2007 01 23 at 07:36 AM • permalink

  46. I wonder if this book will sell more than Loewenstein’s one.

    It is a battle to see who comes in last.

    Posted by The Best Infidel on 2007 01 23 at 07:41 AM • permalink

  47. I have in my possession a document, sourced from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture and Information, entitled “The Arab Peace Initiative”.

    It is only eight pages long.

    Ahuh. Well I just searched the official website of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture and Information using the keyword “israel”

    The result?
    Your search - israel - did not match any documents

    So I tried again using the keyword
    “jew”

    The result?
    Your search - jew - did not match any documents

    I’d like to know how they filled up all those pages even after leaving three blank.

    Posted by geoff on 2007 01 23 at 07:44 AM • permalink

  48. geoff

    try “apes” & “pigs”

    Posted by murph on 2007 01 23 at 08:34 AM • permalink

  49. Infidel: you can probably skip the musk.

    Dunno. There’s apparently a market for “musk flavored” things in Australia. The local international market carries the musk flavored Lifesavers mentioned by Infidel. I tried them once.

    Nearly gagged to death.

    Posted by Rob Crawford on 2007 01 23 at 08:37 AM • permalink

  50. Uh oh folks, it appears that some of you are implying that Moslems aren’t peaceful, and Islam is not tolerant.  Therefore there will now have to be mass riots and killings.

    Posted by rbj1 on 2007 01 23 at 09:06 AM • permalink

  51. Beyond. Parody.

    Posted by SoberHT on 2007 01 23 at 09:51 AM • permalink

  52. The shorter the better.  Nothing can be said in 20 pages that can’t be said in 3.  I have a strong bias against longwindedness.  Without fail, it is always a cover for bullshit.

    Posted by aaron_ on 2007 01 23 at 10:13 AM • permalink

  53. At least the Saudi book is has more pages than the Amish Phone Directory.

    Posted by Some0Seppo on 2007 01 23 at 10:52 AM • permalink

  54. Take away the many repetitions of “Mohammed, peace be upon him”, and “Allahu akhbar”, and the thing could probably be cut down to two pages.  One of them blank.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2007 01 23 at 11:30 AM • permalink

  55. I believe the world shortest could be “Real Peace Concessions Actually Made by Palestinians”

    Posted by Rajan R on 2007 01 23 at 11:37 AM • permalink

  56. #55 Now you are going into negative book territory.  I think that book has minus 500 pages in it.

    Posted by rbj1 on 2007 01 23 at 12:11 PM • permalink

  57. Five pages? That’s longer than I thought. Judging by the past ten years or so, I figured it was this:

    Step 1: 

    Ignore mutually-agreed-upon concessions.

    Step 2: 

    Steal underpants.

    Step 3:

    ?

    Step 4:

    Peace!

    Posted by Dave S. on 2007 01 23 at 12:23 PM • permalink

  58. The part that amazes me about this book is how they got “Wipe Israel off the map,” to cover the other five pages.  Maybe it’s a reading primer since it has only one word per page.

    Posted by kbiel on 2007 01 23 at 01:35 PM • permalink

  59. Three pages are blank.

    They had to leave room for the ulululululus

    Posted by Neeniebug on 2007 01 23 at 03:49 PM • permalink

  60. Shortest poem:

    Fleas
    Adam had ‘em.
      - Anon.

    Shortest novel (Ernest Hemingway, possibly responding to a challenge it was impossible to write a moving story in 6 words):

    For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.

    Posted by Dminor on 2007 01 23 at 06:01 PM • permalink

  61. Shortest movie review, from Leonard Maltin’s Video Guide:

    Isn’t It Romantic? 

    No.

    Posted by Dave S. on 2007 01 23 at 06:48 PM • permalink

  62. A writing class was challenged to come up with the shortest possible story which incorporated the four elements of religion, royalty, sex and mystery.  The winner:  “Oh my God,” said the Princess; “I’m pregnant!  I wonder who did it.”

    Posted by Bruce Lagasse on 2007 01 23 at 10:04 PM • permalink

  63. #14 Infidel Tiger,
    Nope, can’t be done.  There are some things beyond the power of the most self-controlled and disciplined man.

    #43 Andrea,
    There is a book called Rubbish: The Archaeology of Garbage by a professor from the University of Arizona.  His team excavates in landfills then tries to deduce what they can learn about the society that dumped the garbage, then they go check on their deductions.  The idea is to improve deductions archaeologists make from ancient garbage dumps, which are sort of delightful punatas for the working archaeologist.

    Anyway, one of the things he found was that in Mexico they throw away more food, including more meat, than people do in the USA.  Investigations showed that the reason is the poorer availability of refrigeration in Mexico.  For one thing, a lot of Mexicans get second hand refrigerators discarded from the USA.  They’re cheaper so more affordable to people there, and you get what you pay for.

    Posted by Michael Lonie on 2007 01 23 at 10:27 PM • permalink

  64. It is only eight pages long.

    Double spaced.

    Posted by rinardman on 2007 01 23 at 11:03 PM • permalink

  65. In 14-pt type with 14-pts of leading.

    Posted by andycanuck on 2007 01 24 at 01:10 AM • permalink

  66. Dunno. There’s apparently a market for “musk flavored” things in Australia. The local international market carries the musk flavored Lifesavers mentioned by Infidel.

    Really? Ew. Or maybe that’s short for muskmelon? (Which also smells and tastes pretty stinky, imho.)

    Posted by Andrea Harris, Administrator on 2007 01 24 at 08:14 AM • permalink

  67. # 14, nice one Infidel Tiger.
    You now owe it to yourself to got muttawa.blogspot.com for the REAL stuff. The guy doesn’t blog any more but the blog is still there and still hilarious.

    Great bedtime reading.

    Posted by carpefraise on 2007 01 25 at 12:42 AM • permalink

  68. Page 1 of 1 pages

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.

Members:
Login | Register | Member List

Please note: you must use a real email address to register. You will be sent an account activation email. Clicking on the url in the email will automatically activate your account. Until you do so your account will be held in the "pending" list and you won't be able to log in. All accounts that are "pending" for more than one week will be deleted.