An air of distinction, perhaps? I can remember the days when book critics in newspapers and magazines thought it beneath their dignity to review paperbacks. Only hardcover books were accorded the honor of a review.

Publishers gradually brought the critics around to a more sensible viewpoint by introducing what they called "trade paperbacks". These were not just ordinary cheap paperbacks for the masses, with gaudy covers enclosing a dreary parade of small type on rough paper, but prestige paperbacks with attractive covers enticing the more discerning reader to examine the immaculate snow-white pages of luminous type within. And they were priced accordingly!

All the same, despite the success of the "trade paperback", that old equation of hardcover with quality still lingers on in our minds. Perhaps rightly so!