Yes, I'm one of those people. When the movie is over I stay to see if they've done anything cute during the credits, like the bloopers in Grumpy Old Men or the Build Me Up Buttercup montage following Something About Mary. If I'm watching a movie at home, I'll look to see if the special features contain any 'making of' featurettes, such as the in depth offerings on the DVD of the lovely western masterpiece Open Range.

I'm no different with books. I love forewards and afterwords. The introductions before a story starts and the final words from an author once all has been said and done. In their best incarnation they are stories themselves, shedding light on the how, why, and when of what we have just read, or are about to.

My favorite 'forewarder' is, hands down, Stephen King.  In the introduction (okay, it's not called a foreward here, but it quacks like a duck...) to his short story collection Skeleton Crew, he dives into the 'why' of short stories. Why bother, especially for him? What spins from this is a funny and true statetment that should ring true for all writers, namely the balance between putting words to paper for money, or for love of what one does.

When it comes to an 'afterworder', my appreciation for this particular writer is more recent, having just reread Quicker Then The Eye by the master, Ray Bradbury. Following this collection of wonderful short stories, Bradbury, whose use of language has always drifted effortlessly between forceful and poetic, gives us a rundown of the origins of his tales, and ends with some of the most beautiful advice to writers (and others) I've ever read. I quote a few lines here: 'Make haste to live. Oh, God, yes. Live. And write. With great haste.' What words those are, which boil down to his own version of Carpe Diem, but with a lyricism I find simply stunning.

So, yes, there is always the story. The meat imprinted on the numbered pages. But there is more. And it is often worthwhile to come a little early and stay a little late to savor what the author has left for us.