Why do some publishers use uncut page edges in binding?

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Dear John:

I received the book yesterday and it was packaged in a very professional manner.

I am not a book expert by any means so I need to ask a question. The book Void Moon (Michael Connelly) looks in excellent description as you described on eBay. The outside of the top pages and the bottom pages are very smooth, but the side pages are not smooth. In fact it looks like the pages were cut different lengths or were rebound or something. If you look down the line of the side pages it looks like a saw tooth. Can you explain this? (Jason, Louisiana)

John responds:

What you are describing is "classic uncut page edges." Publishers occasionally use this as a design enhancement, not an oversight. It is intentional and used with artistic license to make the book look more antiquarian. It is commonly used by Knopf, an imprint of Random House, notably on early Anne Rice titles, but is also used on occasion by all major publishers. Curiously a copy of VOID MOON can be found with clean cut page edges, but beware that edition is a book club.

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