Whenever you go into a book shop there is always one book that catches your eye, but the trouble comes when you think on whether you want to buy it or not. How do you know you're going to enjoy the book, unless you read it. And you can't read it in the book shop 'cause thats just plain rude. So you end up without buying the book, and wondering what you missed out on.

There is a solution to this problem, however, 'First Chapter' Pamphlets. 'First Chapter' Pamphlets contain the first chapter of a book, some reviews, and the blurb on the back of the book. That way you can read the first chapter fo the book to see if you like it enough to buy it. This would also be useful when buying over the internet, or through mail order, when you really don't get much of a chance to get a good look at the book itself.
-- [ sctld ], May 29 2002

Online first chapters http://www.nytimes....chapters/index.html
The New York Times website has a large number of first chapters online for you to decide if you want to buy the book. [pottedstu, May 29 2002]

C&A http://www.c-and-a.com
For bliss [[ sctld ], May 29 2002]

baked Charles Dickens etc., sold their books in chapter form, if I am wrong someone will tell me ;) croissant anyway.
-- po, May 29 2002


He may well have sold his books in chapter form, but htis is giving away chapters to books as a form of advertisment for the complete book, not selling off a book a chapter at a time.
-- [ sctld ], May 29 2002


<?pedant-idea-scripting ver"1.0";

#Script to return whether a media item in an annotation is the same as the media item in the original idea#

$mediatypeme = mediatype(in-idea); #pamphlet#
$mediatypeyou = mediatype(note:blissmiss); #magazine#
IF $mediatypeme = $mediatypeyou;
THEN p/"Yes"/;
ELSE p/"No"/;

/?>

No
-- [ sctld ], May 29 2002


Don't you just read the first chapter in the bookshop?
-- angel, May 29 2002


I agree with angel -- many bookshops nowadays seem not to mind this -- or you can view lots of first chapters online courtesy of the NY Times (see link). Giving these away in bookshops is probably not economic in most cases (except for massive sellers), and selling the pamphlets would probably have few takers.
-- pottedstu, May 29 2002


the way the 'big box' stores are here, you don't have to stop at chapter one, bring a coffee and a blankie and spend the day. it's like the library but with a newer selection. I felt guilty about doing this until soft covers broke the ten dollar mark, I don't feel so bad anymore.
-- rbl, May 29 2002


When I was in college I once formulated the idea that I'd know I had "enough" money when I could see an interesting book and just buy it without thinking about whether it was a fiscally responsible decision. Now I can pretty much do that, but two other problems have arisen. The first is that my awareness of the need for retirement funds is in much better focus than it was, and the second is that now (partly as a result of having reached my previous goal), I have way too many books piling up waiting for my attention.

Still, I like to think my original formula for "enough" was a pretty good one.
-- beauxeault, May 29 2002


Is it like those man creche's that we were promised in C&A that we never got?
-- [ sctld ], May 29 2002


Pinpoint the word that you cannot comprehend, and i'll provide on-line translation.
-- [ sctld ], May 29 2002


Baked, last year. The novelist Don DeLillo re-released the first chapter of his 1997 novel, "Underworld" (whose cover didn't strike me as creepy at the time, but sure as hell does now), as a novella in 2001: "Pafko At the Wall".

I can't fault him for doing this; the first chapter of that book is the single greatest first chapter of any American novel I've ever read. If I could write even half as well as DeLillo does, I'd sell my email messages as dramatic monologues ... editing out the emoticons beforehand, of course ;')
-- 1percent, May 29 2002


'creche' should read 'crèche' and is what you cooky americans would call 'day care'. 'C&A' is a shop that sells clothes and school uniforms, and also light fittings. Really boring shop.
-- [ sctld ], May 29 2002


correction, C&A *were* ... they no longer exist in the UK.
-- yamahito, May 29 2002


...but they still exist.
-- [ sctld ], May 29 2002


granted.
-- yamahito, May 29 2002


Was just hunting for iPhone app ideas, and thought this would be a great one.

You'd probably have to get the publishers on board for the copyrights, but I could imagine commuters reading the first chapter on their phone and clicking "buy from amazon", or at least "add to wishlist", if they were hooked.
-- Neid, Apr 15 2009



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