Jaybill.com

War and Peace: NOT FOUND

Ever read a book that was a few hundred pages longer than it needed to be? Well, a controversial new site called (aptly) lazylibrary might be just what you’ve always wanted. It searches online book vendors and returns only results that come in under 200 pages.

While this may seem a bit simplistic, I think that for non-fiction at least, it’s a pretty good way of culling out works that were clearly the result of authors being paid by page count, which is probably how most technical books get written. I can’t tell you the number of 700 page programming books I have purchased in my life from which I have needed about thirty pages. Most of the technical books I’ve really utilized most of tend to be on the shorter side anyway.

But hey, why not use this for fiction? Taking a week-long business trip involving air travel? A sub-200 page book might be perfect! You’re not looking for a nine course literary feast, you’re just looking for “literary snacks“!

Interestingly, it seems to be getting a fair amount of press, including one early award. It would seem, however, that wordy authors and people who like them don’t like being put on notice.

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