Books: Introductions

A thought on book introductions: Reading an introduction to a book is like Russian roulette; it can be an exercise of anticipation and dread. In order to fully examine a literary work, the reader’s critical eye must at some point be cast down the gun-barrel of the author’s introductory comments, of which there are two varieties: 1) the editors from the temples of the publishing gods smile upon the reader, publishing introductory comments that are succinct – derringer-like and informative, or 2) the reviewer is a figure of Egypt from the Exodus narrative, except in this case rather than plagues they are cursed with a plethora of paragraphs. I am a fan of paragraphs, but it is painful to engorge the mind with excess verbiage from belaboring authors and generous editors. Books, therefore, can be either “sweet” or “sour”. If I had a dollar for every bad book introduction I’ve read…