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I put up one page 99, but found it less than useful. And, looking at other page 99s, including some from books upon my shelves, as well as the comments I've received, I've come across one of its big weaknesses: Lack of context.
A seemingly mundane sentence, which page 99 readers will (rightly) see as boring can have immense emotional power if the reader knew the context. I picked up 5 books from my shelf--books that I've read upwards of 5 times each. Page 99 failed to excite me in 3 of the 5. Looking strictly at page 99 from the point of view of a newcomer to the book and author, 60% of my favourites failed the test--I would not turn the page and read on.
And, thus, in my opinion, Ford Maddox Ford and his page 99 theorem also fails the test.
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