# Do you buy novels without reading the first few pages first? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2018, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730 "2018-09-04T09:30:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/81 "2018-09-12T09:10:10Z")
Hoot! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2018, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/82 "2018-09-12T14:21:03Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > The idea of reading the first pages of a novel to determine whether I’d be interested in reading it is odd. > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > I find it very odd that so many people say they DON’T read the first few pages. We all live in our own little pocket realities. Before this thread I never even realized this was a _thing_. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/83 "2018-09-13T00:58:36Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > We all live in our own little pocket realities. Before this thread I never even realized this was a _thing_. Yeah, it reminds me of the thread about standing up vs. sitting down when wiping. With novels, it just seems like it would be common sense. In a bookstore, it’s right there to pick up and read. It only takes a minute or two to read a couple pages. Same online: booksellers make it easy to read the first pages. And this is what you will read as soon as you buy it anyway—it’s not like reading a random section of the book (that is the one I find weird). Do the people who don’t read any first (again, talking about a full price hardback or ebook and assuming you don’t have money to burn) also not test drive a car before buying it? Do you not try on clothes? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/84 "2018-09-13T01:21:03Z")
My clothes tend to come wrapped in plastic from stores with “mart” in their names. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/85 "2018-09-13T01:45:45Z")
I usually don’t try on clothes… I mean, I know my measurements, I know what I like in clothes, what’s there to try on? Of course, if I’m being fitted for a suit I try it on, get measured, and have the tailor make adjustments, but for a pair of jeans or my standard white oxford shirts? Why bother? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/86 "2018-09-13T02:40:34Z")
Because sizes vary between brands, and fit is not reducible to a number or two. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/87 "2018-09-13T02:44:00Z")
Huh. My clothes are measured in “inches”, a unit of measurement gaining popularity here in the States. Like my jeans - 34 inches around, 32 inches in length. Every one the same. No need to try them on because they’re all the same size! Bizarre, huh? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/88 "2018-09-13T03:11:38Z")
I used to read a few pages of a new book in the bookstore aisle. It was my comfortable routine browsing in bookstores. I would spend an hour in the store and maybe buy two books. I just read the jacket summary on Amazon and scan the reviews. Just not the same as a cozy bookstore. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/89 "2018-09-13T03:30:56Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Huh. My clothes are measured in “inches”, a unit of measurement gaining popularity here in the States. > > Like my jeans - 34 inches around, 32 inches in length. Every one the same. No need to try them on because they’re all the same size! Bizarre, huh? You really think every pair of 34/32 jeans, in every brand and style, has the same shape and fits the same? Seriously? If you’re buying a duplicate of an item of clothing you already own (same brand, same size), that’s not what I’m talking about here. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/90 "2018-09-13T03:47:47Z")
Oddly enough, people buy things differently than you do. > **[When did you realize "I'll never really understand (wo)men?" (light-hearted)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=404481)** > > My wife and I were watching Rocky (the original) last night when, during the fight scene, Rocky asks that his swollen eye be cut as to reduce the swelling. A blade came out, slit Rocky’s eye, and blood started spraying over his face. Watching this,... > [@](#): > > …in a discussion over clothes-buying habits. I came home one day with 3-4 pairs of jeans, when the following discussion ensued: > > “Did they all fit?” > “Uh… of course. They’re my size.” > “You tried them on, didn’t you?” > “Uh… of course not. They’re my size.” > “Then how do you know that they fit?” > “Uh… you see? They’re all my size. 36w-34l, right there on the label.” > “What does the label have to do with anything?” > > It was here that my confusion began. > > “Well, 36 is my waist size, in inches. I measured. 34 is my inseam - I measured that, too. Therefore, when I went to the store, all I had to do is find jeans that are 36-34. I’m a pretty easy fit.” > “And you expect the label to give you the correct size?” > “Of course - it always has. When have you ever seen me return a pair of pants just because they didn’t fit?” > “You mean you never try on your clothes? You just expect them to fit?” > “Babe, an “inch” is pretty well defined and has been for centuries. They should fit. Why try on a pair of jeans when it states precisely how big the waist is compared to the inseam? What’s there to ‘try’?” ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/91 "2018-09-13T04:21:53Z")
Sounds like your wife is a smart lady. Although it’s impressive that you remember something you posted over a decade ago. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/92 "2018-09-13T10:42:58Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Do the people who don’t read any first (again, talking about a full price hardback or ebook and assuming you don’t have money to burn) also not test drive a car before buying it? Do you not try on clothes? I purchased one of my Jeep Wranglers (new) without a test drive. The salesman brought the car to my business, I signed papers, and he drove my old Jeep Wrangler trade back. I don’t try on most clothes, including shoes. That said, if my shoes are a tad too small or big I just wear them and suffer in silence. For jeans I reorder the same ones via Amazon when I need them. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/93 "2018-09-13T12:01:22Z")
I’m with you, **JohnT**. It would no more occur to me to try on clothes before I buy them, than to try putting windshield wiper blades on my car before I buy those. I know what size my car takes, and I buy the ones that say they’re that size. They’ve never turned out not to be that size, but if they did, I would assume either the wiper blades or the packaging were defective, and I would complain. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/94 "2018-09-13T12:06:51Z")
Based on their clothes-purchasing habits, I’ll take the risk of guessing that **JohnT** and **Thudlow** are both male. Do I win a no-prize? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/95 "2018-09-13T12:21:13Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Regardless of how insulting it was, I have to be impressed that you remember that post after 16 years. I find posts from five or six years ago and don’t recognize them at all, although I nod along with this SlackerInc fellow’s perspicacity and general good sense. 😉 > [@SlackerInc](#): > > Sounds like your wife is a smart lady. Although it’s impressive that you remember something you posted over a decade ago. Duly noted. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/96 "2018-09-13T12:22:35Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Based on their clothes-purchasing habits, I’ll take the risk of guessing that **JohnT** and **Thudlow** are both male. > > Do I win a no-prize? Yup - at least for me. And, just FYI, you also posted to the thread I quoted. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Innuendo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@Textual\_Innuendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Innuendo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/97 "2018-09-13T12:31:18Z")
This sounds like it might be worth a poll to know what % of the reading population falls into both camps. So if we summarize the two camps thus far: 1. The “must test drive before you buy” camp, that uses covers, author, genre, and reading the first few pages to decide what they should buy. and 1. The “eh, whatever” camp, that buys things with more limited selection criteria, but not reading any pages, and typically with far fewer criteria than the first camp. Some subset of the folk in 2, and I’m in this group too, chew through such prodigious volumes of books that they can afford to take more “risks” on what they choose to get, because it’s not a huge time investment anyways. Some of the other folk in 2 are happy to act with more limited criteria simply because they are such dashing risk-takers, so full of vim and derring-do that they dare to tread that perilous ground of not-completely-vetted books. 😃 Some of these dashing risk takers’ selection traits overlap into other things like pants-buying and vehicle purchasing. Are we missing anyone so far? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/98 "2018-09-13T12:37:13Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Yup - at least for me. And, just FYI, you also posted to the thread I quoted. 🙂 Yeah, I follow myself around a lot! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/99 "2018-09-13T13:39:04Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Based on their clothes-purchasing habits, I’ll take the risk of guessing that **JohnT** and **Thudlow** are both male. > > Do I win a no-prize? Yeah. And, to be sure, I think the tryer-on-ers may be more sensible than I (I say, as I sit here in pants that are a little bit snugger than others of their size). It’s just that I don’t _like_ trying on clothes, it’s not something I’m in the habit of doing; and many of my clothes are bought online or, like **Darren Garrison** , “wrapped in plastic from stores with ‘mart’ in their names.” At least reading the first few pages of a book before you buy it doesn’t require taking off one’s pants in a public place. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730/100 "2018-09-13T13:41:39Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Duly noted. 😉 Ha, that was you too! I should have known. > [@Textual\_Innuendo](#): > > This sounds like it might be worth a poll to know what % of the reading population falls into both camps. > > So if we summarize the two camps thus far: > > 1. The “must test drive before you buy” camp, that uses covers, author, genre, and reading the first few pages to decide what they should buy. > > and > > 1. The “eh, whatever” camp, that buys things with more limited selection criteria, but not reading any pages, and typically with far fewer criteria than the first camp. > > Some subset of the folk in 2, and I’m in this group too, chew through such prodigious volumes of books that they can afford to take more “risks” on what they choose to get, because it’s not a huge time investment anyways. > > Some of the other folk in 2 are happy to act with more limited criteria simply because they are such dashing risk-takers, so full of vim and derring-do that they dare to tread that perilous ground of not-completely-vetted books. 😃 > > Some of these dashing risk takers’ selection traits overlap into other things like pants-buying and vehicle purchasing. > > Are we missing anyone so far? Looks good, as long as we stipulate that we’re limiting the scope to purchases that one cannot afford more than once a week at most. If, because someone is wealthy or the books are cheap, they can easily afford to buy several per week, it’s a whole different dynamic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-buy-novels-without-reading-the-first-few-pages-first/820730.md?page=6)