Inspectional Reading
Inspectional reading is the second level of reading: a fast but disciplined pass whose purpose is to determine what a book is about, how it is built, and whether it deserves deeper time.
Adler divides it into two moves. The first is systematic skimming or pre-reading: inspect the title page, preface, table of contents, index, jacket copy, and a few strategic passages. The second is superficial reading: read straight through without stopping to solve every difficulty. The rule is counterintuitive but powerful. Do not get stuck early on local confusion if the larger shape can still come into view.
Inspectional reading is not sloppy reading. It is bounded reading. You are not pretending to have fully understood the book; you are building a first map of it. That makes it closely related to problem framing: before deep analysis, you want the right picture of the territory.
It also protects against a common waste pattern. Many readers spend heavy time on books that never deserved full attention, while failing to get enough overview of books that did. Inspectional reading fixes this by front-loading orientation.