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Book Cliff Notes

Cliff notes provide the summary of a book, as well as some criticism and insight into what the text’s deeper meaning might be. They are frequently used by students, or those who simply want to understand the gist of a text without reading the book in its entirety.

“Cliff’s notes” was started by a Nebraskan named Cliff Hillegass and his wife, Catherine, in 1958. They started with sixteen works by Shakespeare. By now the number of these books is in the hundreds, and “cliff notes” or “cliffs notes” is part of common usage referring to a truncated version. 

The company was purchased by John Wiley & Sons in 2001. Cliff notes are often accessed by students who are behind in their reading, or wish to have the synopsis of a well-referenced book without having the time to read it in its entirety.

 

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