These were a necessity of pre-internet, last minute, emergency book reports, and tests for many of us.

[-]

OperationLazy213@reddit

I was often too lazy to even read the notes…

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kissmeimfamous@reddit

Saved my ass many of times until one of my English teachers in high school got hip to the game. She started asking for page references for answers on tests

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ridelikeagurl@reddit

I read the book and these on occasion, to make sure I wasn't missing anything in 'Heart of Darkness' or 'Atlas Shrugged'.

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mhyquel@reddit

What is there to miss in Atlas Shrugged?

[-]

I'm not about to recommend anyone read Atlas Shrugged, but it can be a fun read. Not because it's a good book, but because it's a fuckin fiasco. It's filled with all sorts of crazy - not just the philosophical underpinnings, but everything else about it is 100% bananas. It's got impossible imagery, like an early description of Dagny is that she 'keeps her mouth closed with precision' which... I get what it's trying to do thematically, but what does a precisely closed mouth even look like? It's got some seriously homoerotic subtext between a few of the characters which I'm sure was unintentional - Rearden and D'Anconia seriously needed to get a room at some points. Characters stridently make WILD ahistorical statements like claiming that the United States was not founded on slavery, there's this weird Robert Oppenheimer expy... the list of bizarre nonsense goes on even if you completely ignore the completely ignorable 80 page essay that everyone apparently just stops and listens to this man talk on the radio for hours? If you have the capacity to read something without needing to believe it, it's fun in the same spirit that one watches The Room.

It's unfortunately too big to recommend as an ironic read, though. If it wasn't so completely unnecessarily long, I'd reread it every year. Unfortunately, Athem doesn't have nearly as much bananas nor as much fun.

[-]

mhyquel@reddit

I have capacity in my pleasure reading, maybe I'll give it a shot when I'm caught up on the Hugo nominees.

Thanks for giving an honest and through answer.

I'd much rather see an ideology based on 'The Room'.

[-]

Leadpipe@reddit

I mean, the juice isn't really worth the squeeze, but if you go in with the right attitude and expectation you have have a good time with it.

[-]

mhyquel@reddit

Hey, I had fun playing Bio-Shock. That's the same thing, right?

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Spiritual_Smile9882@reddit

I had a friend who used to go on at length about how amazing it was and kept pushing me to read it. I finally gave in and let him lend me his copy. I had it six months and tried to read it several time and only ever got half way through because it is just so so so stupid and poorly written.

[-]

Leadpipe@reddit

That was kinda the context in which I read it, too. like I'd read The Fountainhead in high school, but didn't remember much about it apart from being a dumb kid that was horny for architecture (also a surprisingly rapey sex scene).

But a coworker saw me reading something and suggested Atlas as 'a really good book.' He was earnest about it and I respected him so I figured, why not.

My 'whew lad' numbers grew pretty steadily from there. I only finished it because I'm a broken person that kinda loves books he hates more than books he loves.

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ridelikeagurl@reddit

Who is John Galt?

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GoCartMozart1980@reddit

A character from a poorly written book penned by a sociopath, about sociopaths, and created to specifically appeal to sociopaths.

[-]

BigE429@reddit

And now a foundational text for an entire political party

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mhyquel@reddit

I dunno, some sort of Willy Wonka type character?

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veglove@reddit

The same message repeated 1000 times.

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BaconPancakes_77@reddit

Same. These made Tess of the D'Urbervilles a lot more accessible when I was 14.

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aburningcaldera@reddit

I wonder what the passing score I’d have had in freshman in college if I had this for Canterbury Tales

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unicorn-beard@reddit

Yes I too "read the book" and used these just to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

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KudosOfTheFroond@reddit

Me too! I used these as a way to study some extra, and to make sure there was nothing I missed after reading the book.

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cranberrywaltz@reddit

I loved Heart of Darkness in high school… and I still do. I understand that many find it boring or slow, but I feel that it only serves the narrative of plodding deeper into The Congo.

[-]

Delta1225@reddit

I read Dante's Inferno for fun and had that right next to me.

[-]

mhyquel@reddit

You need to read Larry Nivens inferno.

Its a "modern" take on Dante, his guide through hell is Benito Mussolini.

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SleightOfHand87@reddit

What’s in the box???

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00spool@reddit

Dante and his buddy, they're climbing up the hill, they're checking out all the sinners, yeah

[-]

aburningcaldera@reddit

There was a website back then to download them too so I didn’t even have to poke into a Barnes and Nobles

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Kickatthedarkness@reddit

Coles notes came before cliffs notes.

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monkeyamongmen@reddit

Give me the Reader's Digest version.

[-]

HeadfulOfGhosts@reddit

Spark notes came out later and were my go to since they had better summaries, the spiritual ancestors to ChatGPT vs Gemini

[-]

Bulky_Pop_8104@reddit

TIL - I assumed they were the same books, but rebranded for the different markets

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AquariusRising1983@reddit

I was the weird kid who never used the Cliff's notes because I actually read the book lol.

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panda_9779@reddit

I really needed that C&P one senior year.

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edcross@reddit

84, used these until college. Saw the beginnings of people posting textbook answers to the internet in message boards md forums.

[-]

Holiday-Constant-661@reddit

Girl in my high school class got caught copying one word for word. Teacher had to tell the entire class someone copied we all knew it was her and it was. Lol.

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Next_Confidence_3654@reddit

Spark Notes were free online.

Admin blocked the site eventually.

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pearmaster@reddit

A requirement of a book report I had was "Explain something about the book to prove you aren't just parroting Cliff Notes". I had only read about half of the cliff notes. I still got a B on th book report.

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Ticky79@reddit

TBH, they are better summary than the internet. Helping my DD the other day I felt myself reaching for ‘the Notes’.

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Arisyd1751244@reddit

I usually read the books except for The Hobbit and Lord of the Flies. I could not get into those books so needed the cliff notes versions

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Aggressive_Power_471@reddit

I used to say cliffs notes version when summarizing for people, now it is TLDR. I remember sneaky English teachers that would ask questions not answered via cliffs Notes though. One was mad because I did not do the reports but aced the quizzes, so she knew I read the book. I said I don't like writing.

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Sdog1981@reddit

I just realized right now they are Cliff's notes. I always called them Cliff notes.

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JametAllDay@reddit

And why folks have no reading comprehension skills now

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TheBr0fessor@reddit

That’s hilarious that Crime and Punishment is the top copy

My senior year of high school (spoiler: I did 3 homework assignments all four years combined) I went to my AP English teacher at the end of the year and told her I cliffs noted my report on Crime and Punishment and that if she wanted to fail me I would gladly be back next year, or she could pass me and never have to worry bout seeing my face ever again.

Suffice to say, I got a C- in the class and against all odds actually got to graduate.

Shoutout Mrs Pieri, you’re a real one.

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nirreskeya@reddit

Did you go back and read it?

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TheBr0fessor@reddit

Ooof no but I need to resd it as well as Mill on the Floss. They were the only books i could never make it past the first couple chapters in my entire life :(

(Same teacher awko…)

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nirreskeya@reddit

It is worth it. And while these aren't usually my thing, the audiobook read by Anthony Heald is pretty good.

I'm currently reading Romola by George Eliot and I'm sure I'll get to Mill on the Floss eventually.

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znavy264@reddit

This saved me from reading the most boring book of all time, Billy Budd. Then while writing my essay, my mom found out and ripped up and threw away my cliffs notes cause I was "cheating". That was a bad night.

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scaredycat_z@reddit

I have a confession to make - I never used Cliffs Notes. I am a self-diagnosed nerd who actually enjoyed reading and read every book assignment....usually at a pace significantly faster than the teacher wanted.

I will also confess, I wasn't very good at analyzing hidden meaning, tropes, etc. in books. I used books as an escape from a relatively sucky live. Bullies at school. Bullies at home. Special needs brother taking all time away from others. etc.

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Infamous_Tie5605@reddit

"its a little known fact about cliff notes... they were actually created by Cliff Clavin, hence the name"

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SqueezedTowel@reddit

Cliff Notes taught me that if you had a clique big enough and rich enough to intimidate your teachers, you and spoiled friends could easily outscore those dumb little poors failing to understand the material with honest studying... Like me.

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Artegall365@reddit

In Canada we had Coles Notes.

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melanyebaggins@reddit

I was looking for this! I remember these fondly 😊

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mumblesnorez@reddit

These were the original, Cliff Hillegass bought the rights to sell them in the US as CliffsNotes.

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michaeljamescrawford@reddit

🇨🇦

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FuzzyScarf@reddit

We had to read The Red Badge of Courage and I had a hard time developing any interest in the story. So I started reading the Cliffs Notes and I fell sleep reading them. I’m still not a fan of The Red Badge of Courage.

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MrsBridgerton@reddit

Ah, cliff notes. It saved me from a Scarlet Letter test. I still hate you, Hawthorne.

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X_celsior@reddit

Scarlet Letter was the first book I read instead of using Spark Notes (yeah, I know this is about pre-internet, but before high school I just read the books.)

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MrsBridgerton@reddit

I tried reading it, but couldn’t get through it. So cliff notes it was.

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_ism_@reddit

Went to a math and science academy for gifted kids.

I didn't need to use these and our teachers claimed they could tell if someone used these and didn't read the book. They even made sure to tell us to include things about the books that were definitely NOT in the cliffs notes (an ancient anti cheating device). I never understood needing to use these honestly. I read all the required reading within a couple of weeks of summer vacation. My problem was usually that when I needed the book again to reference when shool was back in session, other kids had checked out all the copies at the last minute.

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KeySatisfaction197@reddit

I hate when things go out of fashion as a shorthand for something. "Give me the Cliff Notes version of it," used to be really popular.

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absentlyric@reddit

Being in that weird transition time frame. We had the internet...and we used it to look up these books and where to buy them. It was a different time before Wikipedia

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OllieFromCairo@reddit

I could always tell when Ms. Garner hated the book on the curriculum because she would teach out of it.

She was rad as fuck. Drove an AMC Gremlin in the year of our lord 2001.

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emptybeetoo@reddit

These were actually useful if you read them after reading the book to help better understand the book. If you read them instead of the book at best they’ll keep you from failing, which I guess is still useful but in a different way.

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HostilePile@reddit

My English teacher actually had us get them for a few of the books we were required to read.

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These_Photograph_425@reddit

Our teacher showed us how the Cliff Notes version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest had a different interpretation of the ending than the author did, according to interviews. It was a good lesson that Cliff Notes could be useful but limited the reader’s ability to come to their own conclusions when interpreting literature.

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emptybeetoo@reddit

I remember Cliffs Notes being almost contraband where you’d get in trouble for having them. But I also had a teacher say she didn’t care if you used Cliffs Notes because she could tell if you read it instead of the book.

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UndoxxableOhioan@reddit

My English teacher saw it in my backpack and tossed it out the window.

But I am sorry, The Prince and the Pauper and The Good Earth were both 100 pages too damn long.

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LiiilKat@reddit

One of my English teachers had a shelf full of Cliff’s Notes, and designed her tests specifically with material not covered in them.

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HostilePile@reddit

They totally were at my school, I remember being scared to buy them at the store in case someone saw me, but my senior year our English teacher was really laid back but just like your teacher she would know if you didn’t read the book too since the were supposed to be used in addition to.

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mikeyp83@reddit

My AP English teacher despised us using Cliff's notes with the one exception being The Sound and the Fury but only so that we could better follow Faulkner's "stream of consciousness" storyline.

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Over-Inside-7254@reddit

Crime and Punishment was certainly one of them. I remember "summer reading" this book working at the farm. I brought a Die Hard battery and inverter with me on my gator, hooked up my boombox, and listened to Raskolnikov face off against Nikodim and Porfiry while pruning trees. Then read Cliffs because he babbles endlessly. This was 2003 so ya, millennials used them too.

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saltinekracka20@reddit

My English teacher actually studied Cliffs Notes so she could make daily quizzes we'd fail if we only read those. She was a real piece of work.

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ReallyTeddyRoosevelt@reddit

Teachers in my high school said they tested on the parts that aren't in the cliff notes. I don't know if thats true but we all believed it.

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badmrbones@reddit

I am a teacher, and I have over a hundred of these books in my room. They are surprisingly comprehensive. A test that does not include information from Cliff Notes would have to be shallow and trivial.

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Indubitalist@reddit

I know for sure a teacher who did this because people failed that read the Cliff’s Notes. The whole concept was ruined once teachers started reading the notes themselves.

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Darkspiff73@reddit

I had a teacher who would read the Cliffs Notes and write test questions not fully covered by the notes.

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EGOtyst@reddit

I just... read the book?

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throwawayhbgtop81@reddit

My mother refused to buy them. I suffered through a lot of books I hated. Good thing I still loved to read.

Like Catcher in the Rye? Fuck Holden Caulfield. Whiny little snot.

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ImranFZakhaev@reddit

Same. Loved to read, but dear God English teachers always had to pick out the most garbage books possible

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Fritschie26@reddit

And Spark Notes before it was videos and stuff.

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Trelin21@reddit

I am from Canada, and now live in the USA, when I said “Cole’s notes” everyone thought I was some special case…

Cole’s book store… who was Cliff?! ;)

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LAffaire-est-Ketchup@reddit

I never ever used one!! I’m 46.

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Common_Juggernaut724@reddit

Same. I'm 48 now. They were definitely around, but I just read the book instead. Except when I hated the book, then I just failed the test 😂

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ImranFZakhaev@reddit

Except when I hated the book

Hell yeah. I didn't even pretend to read Jane Eyre

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gnark@reddit

I read the books. My buddy used Cliffs Notes. He would always get a slightly higher grade on the book quiz because our English teacher just used the Cliffs Notes to write the quiz.

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ElectricStarfuzz@reddit

If I hated the book I’d still read it.

Then I’d likely complain to my teacher followed by writing persuasive arguments in the required essay for why it sucked & why it deserved my hatred 😅

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savingeverybody@reddit

Yeah I thought they were just for cheaters.

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LAffaire-est-Ketchup@reddit

I mean, I think that for some people they could be a useful study tool, in conjunction with actually reading the assigned book. (Can you tell I’m a librarian? lol)

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TheManOfSpaceAndTime@reddit (OP)

Was it that, they weren't around for you? Or you were aware of them, but just didn’t use them yourself?

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LAffaire-est-Ketchup@reddit

I knew they existed, but I’m a lit nerd. It was math I needed help with

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ElectricStarfuzz@reddit

They were around for me (83), but I never found them necessary or very useful.

No shade to anyone who did tho.

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rialucia@reddit

I never used them either. Not a brag or anything—I just didn’t want to.

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59apache01@reddit

I had an instructor once who would give tests based on minute details of a book. She made it a point to only select items or topics that were NOT in either the Cliff notes or the Monarch notes. So with her, you were stuck reading whatever it was she told you to read.

Jane Eyre was Hell for me....

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calm-phil@reddit

Mom told me these were for loser who couldn't read books. Turns out this is true.

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Gnome_Genome@reddit

Cheating

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Praesil@reddit

To this day, when I need a quick summary of something I still say "can you give me the cliff notes?"

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Battlegurk420@reddit

I remember myself and classmates sitting in book stores in front of the cliff notes and writing down as much as possible, cause buying one was not an option.

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BulkyRaccoon548@reddit

There was this tobacco store in my town that also sold x-rated magazines, comic books, and Cliff's notes. Everything teenage me needed!

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MissViciousKnits@reddit

So I’m a cusp Xennial/Millennial and I remember these AND teachers telling us we could not use Wikipedia as a reputable source. Then when my kids tried citing Wikipedia for their high school assignments I was very skeptical that that was allowed.

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OhhNoYouNintenDidnt@reddit

"Fuckin Dante!!"

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FoppyRETURNS@reddit

Professors claimed they didn't work. They worked.

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joey_oaks@reddit

The unsung heroes of a generation 🫡

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CaTz_EyE@reddit

They still have these. You can read the summaries and other things online for free on their website.

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dinosandbees@reddit

Pleased to report that these are still available online, and at least some of them are free! Only got halfway through 1984 for a recent book club, and Cliff’s notes to the rescue! Not that we actually discussed the book anyways, but I felt better about it lol

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Spiritual_Sorbet_870@reddit

My younger millennial siblings would still seek these out. They were going strong through the early 2000s

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Popular_Bite9246@reddit

I took a worksheet to a Barnes and Noble and filled it out with one of these in a pinch once. I love to read but Scarlet letter… woof

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RobDude80@reddit

100% clutch!

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whitethug@reddit

I NEVER USED ONE OF THESE. I was under the impression that avoiding this shortcut would guarantee a life of success. Now I'm an unemployed writer.

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TiaHatesSocials@reddit

Never bought one

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desertdweller2011@reddit

lol i’m the youngest of three and whenever i needed one of these bad boys they were already in the house because teachers assigned the same books every year and my older brother was just as much a procrastinator as i was

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IDigRollinRockBeer@reddit

Not reading boring books was great

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henningknows@reddit

A whole industry based on knowing I’m too lazy to read a book

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Unusual-Minimum9306@reddit

Just because I was in honors English lit didn’t mean I wanted to read outside of class. I had weed to smoke and girls to try to hook up with at that time in my life. Thank you Cliff

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Luci-Noir@reddit

You’re so cool.

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manicpixiepuke@reddit

Are you my exboyfriend? 😭

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Unusual-Minimum9306@reddit

Not yet

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Luci-Noir@reddit

There are pieces of shit on here that ask others to read articles and give them a faq. I thought it was a joke but they were literally asking for this. I was downvoted into nothing just for asking and in multiple subs.

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Cpmartini1@reddit

I always hoped they had a Cliffs Notes for Cliffs Notes.

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CaptinEmergency@reddit

What if the TLDR is too long and I didn’t read?

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okram2k@reddit

that's when you just copy your friend's homework then change a few words

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nirreskeya@reddit

I never used these but maybe I should have. I remember turning in a book report on the first quarter or so of Moby Dick, which was of course very obvious to my disappointed English teacher.

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manicpixiepuke@reddit

Yes. Definitely bought these. Then in college moved over to SparkNotes online!

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HopelesslyHuman@reddit

SparkNotes & The Spark were fuckin' magical for their time. They were lost to time and a growing internet, sadly, but for a minute, they were amazing.

Was Bob the Anal Fissure from The Spark or am I mixing my timeline? I'm pretty sure it was.

Fuck. I've forgotten more about the internet than children today will ever know.

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keysandtreesforme@reddit

Their site looks alive and well to me

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HopelesslyHuman@reddit

Really? Searching for any associated site does not find much to be and several variations of "thespark.com" set off my antivirus alarms like mad or are domains for sale.

I know SparkNotes was bought by B&N at some point many, many moons ago but...? I could be missing something.

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No_Recognition_3729@reddit

Are you perhaps using some super niche and shitty search engine? Or did you piss someone off a google? I googled 'sparknotes' and the top result was www.sparknotes.com

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bikemandan@reddit

SparkNotes

Thats a name I havent heard in a million years. Damn. That was the spot

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SlapHappyDude@reddit

The founders of SparkNotes also founded OkCupid, which is where I met most of my dates and my wife.

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jimthissguy@reddit

You should really read that book tho, it's fucking amazing.

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balsaaaq@reddit

Then spark notes

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SaviorMoney@reddit

Thats right! Between Cliffs Notes, and The Complete Idiots Guide to whatever, those were pretty much all the reading I did in high school. College was a different story

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creative_usr_name@reddit

Most of mine came from my boomer parents. The old ones were better summaries, newer ones had more analysis.

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Electrical-Bacon-81@reddit

No one would even know what that is today. But, we do.

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jffiore@reddit

Could not have gotten through Shakespeare without them

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computer-machine@reddit

My 10þ grade teacher didn't care about those. Mid-book tests were two sentences on the board - write about each scene in as much detail as possible.

Try to bullshit that from a Cliff's Note.

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cbih@reddit

Spark Notes changed the game forver

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RockItGuyDC@reddit

They did. But does no one here remember Pink Monkey Notes?

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TornadicPursuit@reddit

Yes, I remember using pinkmonkey.com for book reports in the early 00s. I told a couple friends about it, and damn near everyone at school learned about the site within a few days. I should have just kept it to myself.

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raisinghellions@reddit

Went to a snooty private school and getting caught with one of these would get you disciplined. 🤦‍♀️

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WhysAVariable@reddit

I didn’t have access to these so I either read the material or bombed the exam/book report.

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chargoggagog@reddit

I feel like bookstores were open late just for these. I remember grabbing one for “Ethan Frome” the night before I had to submit a paper. I always read my assignments and did the work, but that damn book was a fucking chore, no regrets.

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Redfalconfox@reddit

I just read the synopsis off of Wikipedia and it sounds awful. What do they recommend all these negative books to a bunch of moody teenagers anyway?

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Munchkin531@reddit

Ugh Ethan Frome remains one of my most hated stories from high school!

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No-Environment-3997@reddit

You didn't enjoy the imagery of the desiccating.. cucumber (? I think. it was something phallic) on his porch that was supposed to represent his ongoing emasculation at the hands of his overly critical wife?
(That's literally all I remember about the novel.)

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RockItGuyDC@reddit

Pickles...I saw Ethan Frome and had to comment about the damn plate of pickles.

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beanbean81@reddit

It’s so short and so good. I loved that book

[-]

throwawayhbgtop81@reddit

All those people in Ethan Frome deserved each other.

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rnash139@reddit

lol, isn’t “Ethan Frome” only about 100 pages? You probably saved about 40 pages total on the clifs!

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4TuitouSynchro@reddit

What a book, man. Read it in 9th grade...my BFF and I still talk about the sled scene. When life gets tough, one of us will be like "Wanna Frome?" And the other one will be like "Nahhhh I'm good. " Things could always be worse.

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jayfornight@reddit

i was the nerd that told everyone its cliffs notes, not cliff notes.

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deathdefyingrob1344@reddit

lol now make one for infinite jest!

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Feeling_Bedroom5533@reddit

Naw, these never worked for me because my tests would ask things like, “in Chapter 3, what color was the cup Henry was holding during his conversation with Joe.”

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alsatian01@reddit

My dad purchased me my first one. I wrote my paper based on direct quotes from the notes reworded to my voice (7th grade English). The teacher wrote a note next to one paragraph and it said, "from the movie". I didn't even know the book had been made into a film.

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unsuspectingllama_@reddit

My English teacher not only recommended them but provided them.

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Feisty-Comfort-3967@reddit

Saw, never bought or used.

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EmmalouEsq@reddit

My 12th grade lit teacher read them too and made sure nothing she tested on was included in the Cliffs Notes.

Thankfully she was on maternity leave for a few months and the sub didn't have the same rule.

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Ingonyama70@reddit

"Cliffs notes version?" :p

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ThotThroughTheHeart@reddit

I remember checking out and reading these for books I wasn't assigned to read, just because I was curious as to what the book was about.

[-]

SlowVice-@reddit

Ah, the good ol’ CliffsNotes, the OG life hack for avoiding reading an entire book.

[-]

stopes@reddit

Shit. You just unlocked something in my brain I completely forgot. Like I know I never read a book in high school but I completely forgot how I actually passed the tests. This was how. I think for me it was a combination of SparkNotes, CliffsNotes, and Monarch Notes. But I definitely never read the book.

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Unusual-Minimum9306@reddit

Not yet

[-]

selftaughtgenius@reddit

I’ve never read a single one of these.

[-]

Fresh-Bid6315@reddit

I remember these!!

[-]

MechanicStriking4666@reddit

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tMoneyMoney@reddit

Cliff is an American hero.

[-]

8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit

I bought a few for books I really enjoyed just to see what stuff had gone over my head.

[-]

aliedle@reddit

Fuck You Wuthering Heights!

[-]

frustratedComments@reddit

Anyone else’s school have rules against using these? They would put questions on a test that you’d only know if you had the cliffs notes version. Then you’d get in trouble.

[-]

Professional-Car9621@reddit

I still have a reoccurring dream that I’m back in high school and I’m about to take a final exam but I didn’t go to the class once all semester. Another similar one is that I’m at my locker and I can’t remember the combo.

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Separate-Succotash11@reddit

I have the same test failing nightmare. Scares the bejeebus outta me.

[-]

deephurting66@reddit

Good for note reads

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JeffTS@reddit

Used these for Romeo & Juliet and The Great Gatsby.

[-]

onamonapizza@reddit

Even Cliff couldn't Chaucer easier to read

[-]

SIMPSONBORT@reddit

We had Cole’s Notes in Canada

[-]

Traditional_Mud5758@reddit

I will still say “give me the Cole’s Notes version” to people

[-]

SIMPSONBORT@reddit

So America stole the idea from canada. Those bastards !

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Kickatthedarkness@reddit

Cliffs notes are the American rip off of the Coles notes originals.

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RobotBearArms@reddit

I'm more of an elder Millennial and used these a few times

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Googalslosh@reddit

To this day I say "can i get the Cliffs notes on that?"

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scratchfury@reddit

My library wouldn't accept my donation of the vast collection I had amassed during school. I had my Romeo and Juliet copy stolen while in band class when I went to the bathroom. I'm still mad about that.

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ViceroyFizzlebottom@reddit

I never once used cliffs notes. Parents wouldn’t let me get them.

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Elle3786@reddit

We had them at the public library.

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ViceroyFizzlebottom@reddit

That would’ve been nice!

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TransPort3389@reddit

In high school, I once read about 5 Cliff's Notes on 5 different books, wrote a book report on each using them, and got an A for that semester. The instructor commended me on going the extra mile to bring up my grade.

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FriedBreakfast@reddit

My English teacher said she would fail any of her students she caught buying these in a bookstore. Of course I never actually saw her there and anyone wirh a brain would know to look to see if she's there first.

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DarksunDaFirst@reddit

I never used them. I used the ill-advised strategy of just not doing the book report.

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OhTheHueManatee@reddit

I was very active in theater in high school. I was cast in Taming Of The Shrew as Petruchio. I tried so hard to read that damn book but couldn't understand what the fuck was going on. It was like the context had some kind of language encryption. After about a week of trying to crack the code I got the Cliff Notes. It's was a life saver and I was able to enjoy Shakespeare after that.

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Spare-Good-5372@reddit

I asked where to find these at a book store the other day, and the employee didn't even know what they were.

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GarminTamzarian@reddit

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aLAPanPolyVers@reddit

My Teachers intentionally asked questions not addressed in Cliff’s Notes.

They would make entire tests, without a Notes reference.

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RockTheGrock@reddit

Funnily enough they had these in my high-school library. I can remember slacking off and forgetting we had a test on a book we were supposed to read and I left to go to the restroom went down to the library and skimmed the cliff notes to pass the test.

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RealityOk9823@reddit

Honestly it was the only way I was able to read some books. Charles Dickens, bleah!

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CelticSith@reddit

CliffGPT

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StrategyUnlikely398@reddit

The OG chatGPT

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ExtraDistressrial@reddit

Yes, but I was still screwed when that was my situation. It might have helped me avoid getting a 20 on the test and get me a 50 instead or something but no, it wasn't any kind of way to bail you out of trouble. I kind of wish they didn't exist then, it was kind of an illusion that there was an easier way.

I eventually went on to do well in college, grad school and career overall, but high school was a bumpy ride since I didn't have the work ethic to actually do the stuff I didn't like. Read the books I didn't like and pay attention to them. Not sure what the equivalent today is, I guess last minute Chat GPT.

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Ginger630@reddit

My parents always bought these for me. They actually really helped.

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Kinetic_Silverwolf@reddit

My town was just big enough that my English teachers were able to get free plant the bookstores to snitch on who bought those, so I got REAL good at speed reading them in the bookstore cafe.

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dewihafta@reddit

I bought three, but they were all for novels i read in my spare time, not school related.

Hold on, i seem to have something on my nose….

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anongirl55@reddit

I never used one of these in place of reading the actual book, but I did use them as study guides. They were actually really helpful!

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Pinkkorn69@reddit

These were around for me born in 81 but the beating I would have gotten if I used one. Nope I'd stay up and power through whenever the project was. I also had a lot of teachers if you got caught with them they'd fail you for the whole class. It wasnt worth it

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TheManOfSpaceAndTime@reddit (OP)

Holy shit, that unlocked something in my brain. Good call.