Quote:
Originally Posted by latepaul
if the author/publisher can't be bothered to let me know what the book's about why should I bother.
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While I do agree with what you are all saying about descriptions, there is an argument to be made for NOT giving anything away.
I had a friend who would sometimes work to avoid finding out anything about a movie a friend was taking her to so that she could be completely surprised and have no preconceived notions.
In the case of the "bad" example Harry gave above, isn't that fact that it's Norwegian police procedural crime fiction written by an ex police chief sufficient to make a go/no go decision?
How much about the plot do you need to see in a paragraph? What are the chances the particular detail that would really turn you on or off about the book would end up there any way?
This is mostly a devil's-advocate argument, since as I say, I prefer the kind of description that you're talking about, but I think it's a valid argument.