Ford Madox Ford once said, in discussing how to choose whether or not to read a book, “Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you.” Marshal Zeringue took Ford’s advice to heart and launched his most excellent blog, The Page 99 Test, which features excerpts from the ninety-ninth page of newly published books. Zeringue asked me to send in something from The Big Switch, and this morning he posted my contribution.
I’m guessing he has never read novels by Umberto Ecco ,Thomas Pynchon, or James Joyce.
How about “The Last Page Test”. It’s more of a spoiler than the 99th page test. Try it. Look at the last page of The Bible: The Devil did it.