BOOKS

BOOKS
Author parodiespopular poems
"Martin Gardner's Favorite Poetic Parodies," edited by Martin Gardner (Prometheus, 200 pps., $25).
Martin Gardner is an esteemed national institution -- most familiar to many readers as author for a generation of Scientific American's "Mathematical Games" column, he has churned out more books than can be counted easily.
Recently, his "The Annotated Alice" has added delights to the ever enchanting Lewis Carroll classic. Now comes Gardner with a collection of his favorite parodies of familiar or once-familiar poems.
In this compilation, Gardner cites 50 original poems, in whole or by a major element, and then one or more parodies.
Some are marvelous, some almost as familiar as the originals. There are a few duds -- and Gardner candidly bemoans some gaps, where reprint permissions were not forthcoming. Still, it's a delight, for anyone who likes this sort of thing.
LOCAL
Ohio architecture
Jane Ware, author of "Building Ohio: A Traveler's Guide to Ohio's Urban Architecture," will attend a book signing at Barnes & amp; Noble Booksellers in Boardman Saturday at 2 p.m. Ware, of Columbus, includes Lanterman's Mill in Mill Creek Park among the 600 architectural landmarks in the book, which is published by Orange Frazer.