This is the wonderful libretto to the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Mikado. It makes for a very short book, only 57 pages long. And, of course, it would ordinarily be read while listening to Sir Arthur Sullivan’s stunningly melodic music. 

I saw The Mikado once and didn’t much enjoy it because it was hard to understand the dialog and the lyrics. Having the libretto makes a very big difference. The plot is extremely silly, but the words are extremely clever. A lot of the jokes are still funny. My only complaint is that some of the songs are too short.  (6/7/11)