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points. After each headline, you'll generally find them summarized in
the first paragraph. So you can either read the summary or devour the whole story.
Over half of a newspaper is advertising. But you don't
read every ad. Advertisers flag your attention with headlines and pictures. Classified ads
are in alphabetical order. So even if you want to buy a house, you don't read all the Houses
for sale pages. You select those in your preferred suburb, listed alphabetically.
Very simply, you've cracked the newspaper code.
You know the formula. You know how to skim-read a newspaper every day. So you already know
how to skim-read four books or anything else in print. The secret is to crack each book's
code, to find each publication's formula. Court reporters, for example, know the standard
format for written judgments. The judge normally reviews the case and the main arguments
for many pages, then delivers his or her finding in the last paragraph. So reporters never
start reading a court judgment from the front. They start on the last page - generally at
the last paragraph - because they are reading the judgment to report the verdict.
And the same principle applies to all non-fiction
reading. First ask yourself: Why am I reading this? What do I want to get out of it?
What new information will I want to learn? Then find the book's formula.
Nearly every non-fiction book will state its main
purpose in an introduction - as this book has done. This will tell you whether the book
can provide the answers you want. Then you have to decide whether you need to read every
chapter. You've almost certainly come to the subject with some basic knowledge which
you're looking to extend. So you don't have to read all the material unless you want to
refresh your memory.
Generally, non-fiction authors write books like
speeches: in the introduction, the speaker tells you what he's going to tell you; then he
tells you; then he summarizes what he's told you. And often each chapter is written in a
similar way: the chapter title and first paragraph or paragraphs indicate the theme, the
chapter amplifies it, and it may end with a summary. If the book has subheadings, they'll
help as well.
Many books have other pointers. With color pictures,
skim them and their "captions". Tom Peters' Thriving on Chaos summarizes
each chapter on a separate page at the start of each chapter. In the book you are now
reading, key points are highlighted on every other page.
In brief, read every nonfiction book like a recipe
book. If you want
Contents Page Preface
Introduction
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