I’ve got six different books started right now and between them, I’ve encountered a preface, a foreword, and introduction and a prologue.  Two of the books had a preface AND a foreword.  The foreword to one of these books was really grinding on me – basically laying out each short story ahead of time.  (I was listening on Libby in the car so couldn’t mess with fast forwarding.)  It occurred to me that I don’t really know the difference between all these “can we hurry up and get to the book” blockades.  So I looked them up:

Preface.  An introduction to a book, typically stating its subject, scope, or aims.  Written by the author, a preface is about the book: the history of the inspiration, what inspired it and how the writing of the book transpired.  Much more common in non-fiction books and usually includes acknowledgements.

Foreword.   The foreword, which logically come before the book is normally written by someone other than the author – another author, a friend, mentor or a subject expert.  A foreword might contain a short biography of the author, and salient points about the book.  Apparently getting a well-known author to write your foreword is a real score.

Introduction.  This is the playground of the author and is normally all about the book: a clue to what the author thinks the reader needs to know ahead of time, anything from character introduction to emphasis on themes… you name it.

Prologue.  This is part of the book, almost exclusively fiction, that takes place before the main action of the book.  A good prologue sets the scene for the rest of the book, I guess since this is actually part of the story, these don’t bug me too much.

Knowing the difference doesn’t really change my mind about their status but it made me feel a bit better knowing.

Do you read all the prefaces/forewords/introductions in a book?  What about the acknowledgements at the end?