The new #Kindle print ads, which show you a compelling book passage up close on screen, are genius. Here’s why:

Husband (looking up from the morning newspaper): I just read this whole passage, and I’m not sure what book it’s from. War of the Worlds?
Wife: What do you mean?
Husband: It’s this Kindle ad. Here, read it and tell me what book it is.
Wife (taking the paper and reading):

In the predawn darkness of August 26, 1929, in the back bedroom of small house in Torrance, California, a twelve-year-old boy sat up in bed, listening. There was a sound coming from outside, growing ever louder. It was a huge, heavy rush, suggesting immensity, a great parting of air. It was coming from directly above the house. The boy swung his legs off his bed, raced down the stairs, slapped open the back door, and loped onto the grass. The yard was otherworldly, smothered in unnatural darkness, shivering with sound. The boy stood on the lawn beside his older brother, head thrown back, spellbound.

The sky had disappeared. An object that he could see only in silhouette, reaching across a massive arc of space, was suspended low in the air over the house. It was longer than two and a half football fields and as tall as a city. It was—

Wife (looking over the entire ad carefully): Huh, I’m not sure what it’s from either. And they don’t tell you. But now this ad has caused you to read it, then me to read it, then a discussion about it. Good advertising!

And then we Googled the passage.

And now I’m blogging about it all.

Genius!

PS Look at my post tags to see what book the passage is from.