# RIP to the mass market paperback **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [December 15, 2025, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726 "2025-12-15T16:47:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/41 "2025-12-16T05:20:06Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Mass market paperbacks are the smaller-footprint ones that you used to see everywhere–on racks in drugstores, filling the shelves at bookstores, at supermarkets. AKA pocket sized. > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > They were already moribund - see the stats in the attached article - but their main distributor has said they’re done with them at the end of this year They will still be printed, Harlequin still prints them, IIRC, and others. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Mass market paperbacks are returned to the publisher by tearing off the front cover (or the ISBN code) and destroying the rest. Only those automatically shipped, like Harlequin romances. If you order one, you dont do that. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/42 "2025-12-16T06:22:49Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > The Ace Double covers were a whole amazing genre of art. When I was a kid I found one of those paperback doubles that my older brother had bought years before, though I don’t remember if it was the “Ace” brand. It had two SF stories, “The Brain Stealers” by Murray Leinster, and “Atta” by someone else. I enjoyed both but “The Brain Stealers” was particularly gripping, especially to a little kid. It concerned vampiristic alien creatures who objectively were repulsive and helpless little balls of fur, but who had powerful telepathic abilities that allowed them to control humans and feed on their blood. The paperback is long lost but by incredible dint of luck, I was able to find an e-book version of it so I could relive my childhood. - ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/43 "2025-12-16T09:14:24Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > For much of my formative years, it would only be a slight exaggeration to say that mass market paperbacks were what books (or at least, novels) _were_. There’s just something so raw and pure about reading a book in that form. Indeed– a lot of my novel collection is that (almost 60 _Murder, She Wrote_ mystery novels, and 12 Michael Palmer medical thrillers [11 of which I’ve read], are the highlights). ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/44 "2025-12-16T09:37:58Z")
I well remember the days of the “drugstore paperback.” Our summer home had a library of them; the Ellery Queen and Agatha Christie mysteries that my Grandmother liked, the Westerns that my Dad liked, the Harlequin romances that my Mom and Aunt liked. They were fun reads. I first read _Murder on the Calais Coach_ (later to become the film, _Murder on the Orient Express_) from our summer library. Sad to see that they are going. ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/45 "2025-12-16T09:59:57Z")
And it seems, quite honestly, that for physical books in the future, they’ll either be hards, or trades, both of which are hard to carry on trips or vacations. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/46 "2025-12-16T11:36:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > AKA pocket sized. Only if you have big pockets. The nice thing about winter, back in the day, was that I could (and usually did) carry a paperback around with me in the pocket of my coat. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/47 "2025-12-16T12:02:00Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Back then my local drugstore…used to pile up the coverless paperbacks that were supposed to be returned, selling them for like three for a dollar. If the publishers thought they were getting ripped off, they made it up by all the books I bought after that. I acknowledge what you did there. mmm ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/48 "2025-12-16T13:32:36Z")
Damn! Say it ain’t so. I think the bulk of my library is mass-market paperbacks. I’ve got a ton of Penguin Classics (and others in their line). More to the point, I still haven’t had any of my own books in MMP format, and some of my friends have. As for thick MMPs, several have been mentioned. I’ll add my copy of the original _Roget’s Thesaurus_. – the one organized by classification, not as a dictionary. It ran just short of 1500 pages. Lots of fictional works have been pretty damned thick, too. M.M. Kaye’s _The Far Pavilions_ was just under 900 pages. One of my wife’s friends who wanted to read James Clavell’s _Noble House_ in paperback (1171 pages) while soaking in her tub came up with the ultimate solution – she split it in half down the spine and took half with her so she wouldn’t cramp her hand up holding it. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/49 "2025-12-16T14:15:18Z")
As far as thick MMPs, I remember one of Leonard Maltin’s movie guides clocking in at over 1500 pages back in the early 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/50 "2025-12-16T14:15:50Z")
I had _Les Mis_ as a mmp once. It was around 1500 pages. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/51 "2025-12-16T14:23:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > One of my wife’s friends who wanted to read James Clavell’s _Noble House_ in paperback (1171 pages) while soaking in her tub came up with the ultimate solution – she split it in half down the spine and took half with her so she wouldn’t cramp her hand up holding it. It was a lot easier to think of MMPs as disposable than other books although it’s surprising how many times they could be repeatedly read before falling apart. At the gas station I worked at in high school, there was a copy of MASH that bore the greasy fingerprints of every bored graveyard shift attendant who worked there over the previous decade. It was a mess but still intact and readable by the time it was my turn to read it. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/52 "2025-12-16T15:09:44Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It was a lot easier to think of MMPs as disposable than other books although it’s surprising how many times they could be repeatedly read before falling apart. Some of my older MMPs have lasted a surprisingly long time. The Dutton paperbacks were extremely well-constructed, and have really stood up. On the other hand, the Lancer Conan paperbacks from the late 1960s/early 1970s were coming apart in my hands as I re-read them recently. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/53 "2025-12-16T15:12:27Z")
Used Paperbacks used to be commonly available. My mom brought bags of them to a place in Little Rock for store credit. The store credit applied to buying used paperbacks from the store. That place was in business for at least 20 years. Sometimes they’d reject popular books already in stock. For example, Hunt for Red October. They might have 6 used copies and would refuse to accept any more. That’s why I strongly dislike Kindle books. You can’t trade or sell them. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/54 "2025-12-16T15:14:31Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > On the other hand, the Lancer Conan paperbacks from the late 1960s/early 1970s were coming apart in my hands as I re-read them recently. I had all those and loved seeing them all together on the shelf. But yeah, the covers started fraying as I was walking out of the bookstore. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/55 "2025-12-16T15:25:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Used Paperbacks used to be commonly available. They sold for 25 cents in the used book store near me when I was a kid. You would get a 15 cent credit for every one you brought back with their stamp in it. They were located directly across the street from the Library. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/56 "2025-12-16T15:26:52Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Used Paperbacks used to be commonly available. My mom brought bags of them to a place in Little Rock for store credit. The store credit applied to buying used paperbacks from the store. > > That place was in business for at least 20 years. > > Sometimes they’d reject popular books already in stock. For example, Hunt for Red October. They might have 6 used copies and would refuse to accept any more. > > That’s why I strongly dislike Kindle books. You can’t trade or sell them. Although Used Book stores took a serious hit when internet sites for them sprang up twenty years or so ago, they’re still around. There just aren’t as many of them, and you have to search them out. There’s a “Used Book Superstore” near me, and thrift stores like Savers have big used paperback sections. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/57 "2025-12-16T15:34:27Z")
This all reminded me, when my mom moved up here to MA in 2003, as we packed her up we discovered that one box of paperbacks that hadn’t been thrown away after I moved out (NB: that wasn’t done in any sense of ill spirit, my parents were just very efficient and thought I was done with them). It’s an eclectic mix, but there are some favorites in there. (and hey @Tamerlane, guess what?) [![](https://i.imgur.com/JyZRMK0.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/JyZRMK0.jpeg) ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/58 "2025-12-16T16:10:22Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > (and hey @Tamerlane, guess what?) Yeah, seven-year old me I picked that book based on the cover, but I had inadvertently stumbled into a good one 🙂 (and yes, I did eventually read all of the Eternal Champion books). ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/59 "2025-12-16T18:28:50Z")
I went to the bookstore yesterday to buy some new books. I’m mostly reading e-books, but I wanted 1. to support some authers 2. to actually own a book, instead of taking it out of the library. and I really really dislike DRM. So I’ve been buying hardcopies and then stealing a matching ebook to actually read. It’s probably not legal, (although creating my own ebook by scanning the hardcopy myself, for my own personal use, probably is legal, so I’m just cutting out some of the work…) Anyway, I was dismayed at how physcially huge all the books are. I grew up reading mass market paperbacks. That’s the form factor I expect for a “default” book. Nope, I can only buy huge things. So I’m sad. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Some of my older MMPs have lasted a surprisingly long time. The Dutton paperbacks were extremely well-constructed, and have really stood up. On the other hand, the Lancer Conan paperbacks from the late 1960s/early 1970s were coming apart in my hands as I re-read them recently. A lot of mine are still in decent shape. Also, hardcovers have gooten bigger, too. I have a lot of nice old hardcovers that are smaller than anything in the shop. Does no one actually carry books around? Or hold them up while reading in bed? ---
**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:** [December 16, 2025, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726/60 "2025-12-16T20:04:59Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > A lot of mine are still in decent shape. Well, most of mine still are. Although maybe they’ll surprise me when I try to read them. My Conan novels were still intact when I picked them up to re-read. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-to-the-mass-market-paperback/1025726.md?page=4)