# The Iron Law of "Novels"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-iron-law-of-novels/79060>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 31, 2001, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-iron-law-of-novels/79060 "2001-08-31T02:24:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-iron-law-of-novels/79060/1 "2001-08-31T02:24:43Z")

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If a book has the words “A Novel” on it under the title, it should be interpreted as “A Piece of Shit.” I mean, if they have to **tell** you its a novel, I don’t think its worth reading. Am I right?

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**Author:** ![ndorward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c2a13f/32.png) [@ndorward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ndorward)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-iron-law-of-novels/79060/2 "2001-08-31T02:53:56Z")

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I’m not sure why should one blame the author for what is usually the publisher’s decision. This isn’t so far from “judging a book by its cover”.

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**Author:** ![saepiroth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@saepiroth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saepiroth)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-iron-law-of-novels/79060/3 "2001-08-31T13:42:10Z")

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it has been disproved, read “the last samurai: a novel”. it is a very nice book, in my opinion.

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-iron-law-of-novels/79060/4 "2001-08-31T13:53:24Z")

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Not necessarily. Sometimes the Marketing Department at a publisher wants to differentiate between an author’s new work and his previous stuff.

Say, Agatha Christie wanted to try her hand at literary fiction…her new book, O, THE GREEN MOUNTAINS shouldn’t be mistaken for the latest Miss Marple whodunit. So you stick “A novel” after the title, instead of “A Jane Marple Murder Mystery.”

Also, some novels have titles like A HANDBOOK OF AIR CONDITIONER REPAIR. So “A novel” helps to clear up possible misunderstanding.  
– Uke, the book publishing guy