There is something I have noticed.  In the US, mass market paperbacks seem to have roughly the same width spine.  For example:



As you can see, the spines of these 4 books are pretty much the same width.  Their page counts, however, are not the same.

Dust - 342 pages
The Privilege of the Sword - 462 pages
Scar Night - 549 pages (+ excerpt from the next book)
Elantris - 638 pages

Books that have a 300-page difference will be made to a very similar size. 

The one that shocked me the most, though, was seeing Perdido Street Station made to this same size. 

Because in the UK, we don't do this.  For example:



It's kinda obvious how PSS is a bloody huge book.  Page counts are

The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque - 326 pages
The Etched City - 467 pages
Perdido Street Station - 867 pages

I really don't want to know how thin the paper in the US edition of PSS must be to get it the same width as other mass market paperbacks.

(This fascinating post brought to you by finally connecting my camera to my macbook.)

Tags: book octopus
Mood: mildly curious