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I got my book club to read a 700 page novel by lying about the page count

Our group picks books by vote, and every time a big book like 'The Count of Monte Cristo' came up, it got shot down instantly. People just see the page count and panic. So last month, I nominated 'Shogun' by James Clavell. When I sent the email, I wrote 'it's a tight 450 pages, a real page-turner.' Obviously, it's not. It's over 1100. But by the time the physical copies arrived, everyone was already committed. The wild part? We had our best discussion ever. People got so into the feudal Japan setting and the characters that the length didn't matter. We spent two full meetings on it. Has anyone else ever used a little white lie to get a book on the list that actually paid off?
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3 Comments
joseph_adams66
1100 pages is a big oof but that payoff though.
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nathana48
nathana481mo ago
That bit about people panicking over page counts is so real. My friend did the same thing with "Infinite Jest" by just calling it a funny book about tennis. Her club ended up loving the parts they could follow, and they still joke about it. Sometimes you just have to get the book in their hands.
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troyreed
troyreed1mo ago
But @nathana48, is it really that deep?
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