Have you heard of the page 99 test? While going through yet another stack of magazines, trying to pare down my ever-growing collection of periodicals, I came across and article about the "page 99 test". The theory of this test is that you can open any book to page 99 and be able to tell if the book will be good or not. This theory was authored by Ford Maddox Ford who is best known for this test and also a book called The Good Soldier. He founded both the English and Transatlantic Reviews that published pieces from the likes of H.G Wells. Ford was also friends with many literary figures such as Earnest Hemmingway and James Joyce.
Being book obsessed (all around paper-phile would probably be a better term), I thought this might be a handy tool the next time I am thinking about a book purchase largely based on its cover (we all do it - right??).
And you can have even more fun on new a website that has turned this into a neat way to put Mr. Ford's theory to the test. The site is http://page99test.com/index.php. I've been doing a little playing around on this site tonight and have to say it's fun, fascinating and utterly addictive! Here's the basic gist:
- Sign in/create and account (free)
- Select your favorite genre(s)
- The site gives you a page from a book that is published or unpublished (you won't know which)
- Read the page
- On the right side of the page you share your feedback (would you read the next page? why or why not? how likely are you to buy the book?)
- Last, you get information on the book (title, page, author, published or not, and what other said about the page)
I could to this all night! I should check to see if there's an app for this or if I can look at it on my phone, this would be really fun while waiting in line or to kill some time.
Will you be trying out the page 99 test - Me Too!
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