Most homes have a half-dozen of the things. At yard sales you'll find stacks of them. People pressed for time love them, people who like to presume won't go near them.
And this month we'll see volume No. 200 come off the presses.They're "Reader's Digest Condensed Books," boiled down versions of big novels. They even condensed the novel "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" - which only takes 20 minutes to read in the original.
But say what you will, they've played a major role in American reading habits.
"What we do is present readers with carefully selected and edited volumes to ensure their enjoyment," says Barbara J. Morgan, editor in chief.
And over the years Condensed Books have racked up some pretty impressive stats doing just that:
Sales? 750 million copies worldwide.
Titles published? 914.
Authors published? 567.
In 1950, Vol. 1 featured condensed books by Alan Paton ("Cry, the Beloved Country") and Donald Fay ("Autobiography of Will Rogers").
Vol. 200 has Alexandra Ripley's "Scarlett," Frederick Forsyth's "The Deceiver" and "Comeback" by Dick Francis.
(Francis, by the way, has appeared 13 times.)
The inside cover of the anniversary issue features congratulations from dozens of authors and a special cover. The condensed edition comes out every three months and - like those in recent memory - this one will total 1 million copies in sales.