So I'm attempting, for about the tenth time, to get through
War and Peace. I'm reading in a park while my sons are playing catch, and some other father comes by to make small talk. He takes a quick look at the cover of the book and says, "Hey,
War and Punishment. That's some heavy-duty reading."
"
War and Peace," I gently correct him.
"Oh. What am I thinking of?"
"
Crime and Punishment?"
"No, that's not it. Is there another one?"
"I don't know."
"Okay."
Fine. He goes away.
Then I start playing around with the idea of a Tolstoy/Dostoevsky mashup and come up with the author of
War and Punishment: Leodor Tolstoyevsky.
At home, I tell my wife about my whimsical drollery. She shrugs and says, "I'm sure someone else has already come up with that." I say, "What?!
War and Punishment by Leodor Tolstoyevksy? That's defintely original."
Google, as usual, settles the argument:
My title's better. But then again, I didn't think of it. The guy in the park did.