Reader's Digest Condensed Books

The spines of many Reader's Digest Condensed Books

Reader's Digest Condensed Books was a series of hardcover anthology collections, published by the American general interest monthly family magazine Reader's Digest and distributed by direct mail. Most volumes contained five (although a considerable minority consisted of three, four, or six) current best-selling novels and nonfiction books which were abridged (or "condensed") specifically for Reader's Digest.[1][2] The series was published from 1950 until 1997, when it was renamed Reader's Digest Select Editions.[3] Frequently featured authors in the original series include Dick Francis (17 titles), Henry Denker (16 titles), Victoria Holt (15 titles) and Mary Higgins Clark (13 titles).

The series was popular; a 1987 New York Times article estimated annual sales of 10 million copies.[4] Despite this popularity, old copies are notoriously difficult to sell,[5][6] and scholarly attention has been sparse.[7][8]

For much of their publication schedule, the volumes were issued four times each year. Each year the company produced a Volume 1 (winter), Volume 2 (spring), Volume 3 (summer), and Volume 4 (autumn). In later years they added a Volumes 5, and then a Volume 6, going to a bi-monthly schedule by the early 1990s. The series was produced for 47 years (1950–1997), until being renamed Reader's Digest Select Editions. (Note: UK editions seem to have been somewhat different from US editions. Pre-1992 Canadian editions also contain different titles.)

Occasional books such as The Leopard (Summer 1960), The Days Were Too Short (Autumn 1960), and Papillon (Autumn 1970) were not published in English originally but were abridgments of translations. In some cases, advanced copies of the hardcover edition were printed in paperback form. In a few cases, new editions of older works (Up from Slavery, published originally in 1901 (Autumn 1960), A Roving Commission: My Early Life, published originally in 1930 (Autumn 1951) or Goodbye Mr. Chips, published originally in 1934 (Summer 1961)) were also among the condensed selections.

  1. ^ Volkersz, Evert (1995). "McBook: The Reader's Digest condensed books franchise". Publishing Research Quarterly. 11 (2): 52–61. doi:10.1007/BF02680426.
  2. ^ Publishers Weekly: "Reader's Digest Condensed Book Series to Get Wider Distribution", March 2015
  3. ^ Marchand, Philip. "Remembering the Reader's Digest Condensed Library". National Post. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  4. ^ The New York Times: "New Editor at Digest's Condensed Books", August 2, 1987
  5. ^ "Reader's Digest Condensed Books: 'as difficult to dispose of as bins of radioactive waste'"
  6. ^ Clayton Library: "We DON'T ACCEPT Reader's Digest Condensed Books–they do not sell".
  7. ^ Norrick-Rühl, Corinna (2021-10-11), "Contracts, Clauses, Controversy: John Hersey, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and Reader's Digest Condensed Books", Symbolism, De Gruyter, pp. 35–54, doi:10.1515/9783110756456-003, ISBN 978-3-11-075645-6, S2CID 244578378, retrieved 2022-10-14
  8. ^ Volkersz, Evert (1995-06-01). "McBook: The Reader's Digest condensed books franchise". Publishing Research Quarterly. 11 (2): 52–61. doi:10.1007/BF02680426. ISSN 1936-4792. S2CID 143654866.