An interesting blogging concept: Authors are invited to submit the full text of page 99 from their current novel, and to follow it up with a brief essay on the snippet. In their own words:
For the Page 99 Test, I hope to have authors comment on whether Page 99 reveals "the quality of the whole" about their books. We'll try the test on new books, contemporary classics, and a few time-honored books, with recognized experts applying the test to the text.
My effort is here.
Hi Simon,
ReplyDeleteSince reading this post I've been applying the Page 99 test to all books I might possibly be interested in reading. I've picked up a couple of gems as a result and had a good laugh at some other pages before quickly putting the book away.
Thanks for the tip!
I couldn't do it - I'd be worried about reading some spoiler which makes the previous 98 pages irrelevant ;-)
ReplyDeleteWell I haven't had that happen yet, but you're right that is a potential drawback - then again, in the books I'm reading (mostly sci-fi fiction/fantasy) I'd be happy to go back and read the first 98 pages anyway. As everyone seems to be saying nowadays:"YMMV"
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