“The formal requirement of haiku (three lines of five, seven and five syllables, respectively) have, admittedly, made it necessary to cut some things, such as characters, plot, dialogue and descriptive passages. Still, these are small sacrifices in view of the huge savings in time and shelf space. As an added benefit, when asked, "Did you read War and Peace?" readers can now suavely reply, "No, but I read the haiku.”