Do you read the Forward/Preface of books?

[Colleen Marie]

So when I read a book, no matter what book it is, I read the entire thing including forward/preface, epilogue, etc. Last night I started reading Night Shift (not for the first time) by Stephen King and as I was reading the forward/preface and he had written something that got me thinking, which was this: “In fine, gentle reader, here is a truth that makes the strongest writer gnash his teeth: with the exception of three small groups or people, no one reads the writers preface”. He went on to explain the three groups being family, writer’s representative, and those who had a hand in helping the writer at some point. This really struck something in me because I have never really thought of NOT reading the forward/preface because I always thought of it as almost a personal note to the reader from the writer. I thought of it as special. And this particular forward/preface was so insightful and beautifully written. King spoke of fear and what it means to us and what the horror genre represents and obsessions (how saying we have a hobby is just a nicer way of saying we have an obsession). I would love to post the entire forward but it is rather long. Just to give an example of his words though, here are some quotes that stuck out to me:

"...horror and the supernatural are a kind of filter screen between the conscious and the subconscious; horror fiction is like a central subway station in the human psyche between the blue line of what we can safely internalize and the red line of what we need to get rid of in some way or another"

“Art is a localized illness, usually benign – creative people tend to live a long time – sometimes terribly malignant. You use the knife carefully, because you know it doesn’t care who it cuts. And if you are wise you sift the sludge carefully…because some of that stuff may not be dead.” (This was after speaking of the arts as an obsession, a knife that could run savagely on the person wielding it, and getting macabre ideas from the everyday “sludge” that runs through the mind.)

“Still…let’s talk about fear. We won’t raise our voices and we won’t scream; we’ll talk rationally, you and I. We’ll talk about the way the good fabric of things sometimes has a way of unraveling with shocking suddenness.”

I could add so many more good quotes but I don’t want this post to go on forever. Haha. I do suggest you go and read this forward/preface though. If you look it up on Google books you can read it for free actually. (http://books.google.com/books?id=YTDD...)

So what this all comes down to a question I have. I was wondering how many people read or don’t read the forward/preface and what your thoughts are on this matter. Whether or not you read it, why or why not, general thoughts? I am really interested to hear other peoples thoughts on this. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

[A, Crazy.]

I always read Prologue and Epilogue of books. But I usually skip the Foreword or the Author's Note.

[Jenny]

I read every thing in the book!!

[Emily]

It depends on the book. Sometimes I take my time and read EVERYTHING from the front cover to the back cover, and when I just want a quick read, I just read the prologue/epilogue and the main story.

[Martha]

always prologue and epilogue. I start to read everything it depends if it catches my attention

[[deleted user]]

Yes. I go through the Reading Guides if they are included, and author interviews as well. I find reading these things helps me better appreciate the book.

[Satu]

Yes. From cover to cover.

[Alina]

I always read prologue & epilogue and sometimes author's note too and yeah the reviews about the author's other books

[Liz]

I read everything. start to finish. the devil is in the details my friends

[Deanna]

Yes, I always do.

[Dave]

As author of half a dozen nonfiction books my readers know The Preface or Foreword is the author's chance one on one to speak to future readers to explain why he or she writes that book.
many times the Preface can be more insightful than than the entire book text.

[Jojobean]

Sometimes...not always

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Rarely - an exception is usually to a classic, biography, or a series book where I'm interested in the author for sentimentality reasons.

[Arbaaz]

Oh my god. I never really bothered to read foreword/preface from an author but i don't know shy but i decided to read the preface of night shift. And now i think if i hadn't read it i would just look at the stories as just stories. But after reading this, i have a total different opinion about horror.

And hey, which of the stories you liked the most? My all time favourite are the ones that involves jerusalem's lot. "Jerusalem's lot", and "one for the road". The last lines really struck me to my deepest core. "The little girl is still out there, waiting for the good-night kiss." And also when he warns you to never cross jerusalem's lot. And plus, the last one really made me cry, literally. It's just that i have been through these kinds of situations a dozen times.

[Melinda]

I admit I sometimes skip them. They're usually not as interesting as the actual story. But then sometimes I pay for it.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Arbaaz wrote: "Oh my god. I never really bothered to read foreword/preface from an author but i don't know shy but i decided to read the preface of night shift. And now i think if i hadn't read it i would just lo..."

I agree that those were great - Night Shift was one of the best, if not the best of (havent read all of his) King's anthologies. Great stuff, read two years ago.