# Gimmick Books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [November 1, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167 "2022-11-01T19:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/41 "2022-11-02T19:23:38Z")
I would like to mention author Edward Packard(still alive at 91) who wrote _Choose Your Own Adventure_ book series. He is credited with creating the whole “Choose Your Own Adventure” genre of fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/42 "2022-11-02T19:27:47Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Stephen King’s _Firestarter_ also came out in an asbestos edition in 1980 and generated a huge controversy in 2010 when a set of the two books was offered for sale at $31,000. The publisher of the book wrote this response [regarding the asbestos covers]. … When I took metal shop, years ago, asbestos gloves were required to work on the forge. Since I enjoyed blacksmithing in shop class, I wore them nearly every day. Fifty years later, I’m still here. Asbestos is dangerous; of that, there is no doubt. But it was once very common. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Some dealer used to have a motto that “the only purchase you regret is the one you didn’t make.” As decades pass, I find that more and more true. Me too. I passed on a first British edition of T.S. Eliot’s _Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats_ a few years ago. Still kicking myself. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/43 "2022-11-02T19:38:37Z")
The New Yorker recently had an article about him and those books: > **[The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/09/19/the-enduring-allure-of-choose-your-own-adventure-books)** > > How a best-selling series gave young readers a new sense of agency. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/44 "2022-11-02T20:33:37Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Was the asbestos encapsulated in any way? I’ve heard that even inhaling a single fiber can lead to mesotheleoma (one of my uncles died of it – was in the Navy during WWII). I met Ray Bradbury once. Strong handshake. Certainly not. The dangers of asbestos weren’t evident at the time, and you could buy the stuff freely (In grad school I had to yell at the foreign students to stop pulling the asbestos out of the ziplock bags I’;d sealed it away in.) Today I’d make sure the book was sealed in multiple layers of ziplock bags, or heat-sealed into plastic. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/45 "2022-11-02T20:39:53Z")
Thank you for including the link to The New Yorker article. I read it when it was first published and, like many Leslie Jamison pieces, enjoyed it thoroughly. The structure of the article made me laugh out loud several times (she gives the reader many, many choices of how to continue throughout the course of the piece). ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/46 "2022-11-02T23:42:26Z")
I had a video game strategy guide from the late 90s that was so afraid of spoiling the end game (it was a very narrative heavy game) that the last 30 or so pages of the guide came glued together at the ends. In order to actually read them once you progressed to that point in the story you were to use scissors and cut the glued together part out to access the last 30 pages. I don’t know if that was a marketing gimmick on account of the game publisher (“Our story is so good we don’t want you to accidentally spoil it!”) Or if it was something from the guide publisher to prevent people from just reading the end game stuff for free in a book store (since the end game part was obviously the hardest parts of the game) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/47 "2022-11-03T00:28:42Z")
This is a fad that keeps emerging. Harper put out a line of [sealed mysteries](https://www.mysteryfile.com/Sealed/Harper.html) starting in 1929. They didn’t seal just the last chapter (ala Magpie Murders) but large chunks of the ending. You have a real prize today if you run across one still sealed. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/48 "2022-11-03T00:40:08Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > When I was a kid I bought a book titled _Take This Book, Please_ which is - you guessed it - a Henny Youngman joke book. The title sounds like an invitation to shoplift, like some people reportedly did with Abbie Hoffman’s [“Steal This Book”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steal_This_Book). ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/49 "2022-11-03T00:44:34Z")
I just got back from Moab, and while we were there I visited the book store “Back of the Beyond.” They have an enormous copper-covered book, that must be 6" thick x 24" x 36". It was some sort of commemorative collectable issued on the merger of two French compares at 100 years ago. I didn’t think to get a photo. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/50 "2022-11-03T05:27:37Z")
Blood was drawn from each member of KISS and mixed with the red ink used to print this comic book, [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61zpQGuLVNL._AC_SY780_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61zpQGuLVNL._AC_SY780_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/51 "2022-11-03T05:56:53Z")
Penn and Teller’s _How to Play With Your Food_ came with a large, clear, plastic envelope just inside the cover. It contained various props that one could use to perpetrate the pranks described in the book. I remember they had fake “fortunes” you could pretend to have found in your cookie, fake food labels like “With All Natural Ricin” that you could attach to supermarket products, and so on. God, I loved that book ! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/52 "2022-11-03T11:43:35Z")
> [@Nyvaak](#): > > Penn and Teller’s _How to Play With Your Food_ came with a large, clear, plastic envelope just inside the cover. It contained various props that one could use to perpetrate the pranks described in the book. So did **Penn and Teller’s Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends** > **[Item no longer available](https://www.abebooks.com/books/search?cm_mmc=ggl-_-US_Shopp_Trade_20to50-_-product_id%3DCOM9780394753515SIGNED-_-keyword%3D)** > > The item you are looking for is no longer available. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/53 "2022-11-03T12:18:40Z")
I think the greatest gimmick book is [the coffee table book _about_ coffee tables, that _is_ a coffee table itself!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZXiC8Ans98) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/54 "2022-11-03T12:22:25Z")
I cannot remember the name. But there was a comic book that was shot with a gun. There were specially priced ‘powder burn’ issues. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/55 "2022-11-03T13:12:46Z")
Klutz Books started out with _Juggling for the Complete Klutz_, which had beanbags attached in a mesh bag. They’ve since done many books teaching science and art skills, with the needed equipment in bags with the book. [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91w9+-yyHnL._AC_SX569_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91w9+-yyHnL._AC_SX569_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/56 "2022-11-03T13:18:59Z")
I had that book but never could learn how to juggle. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/57 "2022-11-03T14:17:52Z")
> [@Gimmick Books](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/7): > > I don’t think this ever really happened, but, who knows? [http://www.coffeetablebookofcoffeetables.com/#features](http://www.coffeetablebookofcoffeetables.com/#features) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/58 "2022-11-03T14:33:46Z")
When I was a kid, in the '70s, my parents had this odd little book, “Poems for the John.” It was a book of humorous poetry; I remember that a lot was scatological or slightly racy in nature. The stated intent of the book was to give you something to read while sitting on the toilet. It had a hole drilled in the corner of the book, with a chain looped through the hole, apparently so that one could hang the book on a hook near the toilet. [![](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31pUflrDO7L._AC_SY780_.jpg) ](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31pUflrDO7L._AC_SY780_.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/59 "2022-11-03T15:59:32Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Many, many years ago National Lampoon published a parody of newspapers that looked like a newspaper. Ah, yes, the Sunday edition of the [Dacron, Ohio Republican-Democrat.](http://www.paperboyarchive.com/2018/02/best-fake-news-ever-no-really-ever.html) I used to leave my copy out on the coffee table for visitors to pick up and start reading. The ‘forgery’ was top-notch; it even had shopping inserts for stores like [SWILLMART](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FLqfxYNXIAoHRET?format=jpg&name=large) “Where Quality Is A Slogan”, illustrated by [Bruce McCall.](https://www.google.com/search?q=bruce+mccall+illustrator&newwindow=1&sxsrf=ALiCzsYKneq0QvFRpFvp-yohiP0UEL5xBw:1667490400909&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjdqozorZL7AhVAM0QIHUxXDeMQ_AUoAXoECAMQAw&biw=956&bih=499&dpr=2) And the humor was very funny, but also very clever, with different stories interlacing, giving clues to the identity of at least one local criminal. And the plot continued with the same characters also showing up in National Lampoon’s equally-brilliant _High School Yearbook,_ and in their movie _Animal House._ ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2022, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/60 "2022-11-03T17:06:42Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Klutz Books started out with _Juggling for the Complete Klutz_, which had beanbags attached in a mesh bag. They’ve since done many books teaching science and art skills, with the needed equipment in bags with the book. That’s how I learned to juggle! “Take the three beanbags in your hands. Notice that you have more beanbags than you have hands. If this is not the case, look for our companion book _Juggling for the Exceptionally Gifted_.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167.md?page=4)