本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Whenever I am about to publish a book, I always read a manuscript to a private group of friends, composed as follows:
1. Man and woman with no sense of humour.
2. Man and woman with medium sense of humour.
3. Man and woman with prodigious sense of humour.
4. An intensely practical person.
5. A sentimental person.
6. A person who must have a moral in and a purpose.
7. A hypercritical person.
8. Enthusiast.
9. Person who watches others and implores and condemns with the majority.
10. Half a dozen bright young girls and boys unclassified.
11. Person who relishes slam and familiar flippancy.
12. Person who detests them.
13. Person of evenly-balanced, judicial mind.
14. Man who always goes to sleep.
These people accurately represent the general public. There is not a person among them whose opinion is not valuable to me – but the man whom I’m mostly dependent upon, is the man who always goes to sleep. If he drops off within fifteen minutes, I will burn the book; he keeps awake three quarters of an hour, I will publish, and I will publish with the greatest confidence.
Two, for the intent of my works is to entertain. By making this man comfortable on a sofa and timing him, I can tell, within a shade or two, what degree of success I am going to achieve. His verdict has burned several books for me, five to be accurate.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
1. Man and woman with no sense of humour.
2. Man and woman with medium sense of humour.
3. Man and woman with prodigious sense of humour.
4. An intensely practical person.
5. A sentimental person.
6. A person who must have a moral in and a purpose.
7. A hypercritical person.
8. Enthusiast.
9. Person who watches others and implores and condemns with the majority.
10. Half a dozen bright young girls and boys unclassified.
11. Person who relishes slam and familiar flippancy.
12. Person who detests them.
13. Person of evenly-balanced, judicial mind.
14. Man who always goes to sleep.
These people accurately represent the general public. There is not a person among them whose opinion is not valuable to me – but the man whom I’m mostly dependent upon, is the man who always goes to sleep. If he drops off within fifteen minutes, I will burn the book; he keeps awake three quarters of an hour, I will publish, and I will publish with the greatest confidence.
Two, for the intent of my works is to entertain. By making this man comfortable on a sofa and timing him, I can tell, within a shade or two, what degree of success I am going to achieve. His verdict has burned several books for me, five to be accurate.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net