I received a book that fell apart while I was reading it.  The first dozen or so pages came out of the book in one piece.  It happened after I had read a few pages, so I don't think the pages were detached from the spine when I got it.  

It's a mmp published in 1998 and it's clearly had a hard life!  Yellowed pages, scuffed cover, etc.  I had already marked it received and I'm not too worried about it, but wondering for the future

If I had fanned the pages when I first got the book, they would probably have fallen out then.  In that case, would you have considered it RWAP?  

Or am I just this book's lucky last reader? 

No, I wouldn't.  I'd consider it was a book that has reached it's last read.  Sad to say - all books eventually reach that stage.   You said yourself that it happened AFTER you read a few pages, so it wasn't actually falling apart when you got it.  JMO

Like Cozi said eventually every book gets to it's last person as a postable book.  Sometimes that person is you. Sounds like that's the case with this one.  Maybe the arduous journey through the US postal system was just too much for the poor thing :-))

Probably not.  Last year, I bought a book brand new at Borders.  A couple days after I bought it, I was like 2 chapters in and pages just started falling out.  I was not happy!  They told me I could exchange it for another copy of the book, but at the time gas was expensive, it's an hour away, and I had already read the book so I gave it as a freebie.

I agree with you. Shannon - the publishers/printers are using increasingly bad materials.  Bad paper, bad glue, etc.  Really shoddy work.  I don't know what anyone could do about it.  I don't collect books except for my TBR pile.  I almost broke my DH's back the last time we moved and I never hear the end of it!  ;D  So I resolved never to move books (collection) again.  Not worth it!

Ruth

I had this same issue recently - the book was fine until I started reading it, and every page I turned just popped out like the glue just gave at that moment. I had to use paperclips to keep it together enough to keep reading - as I read it, the first several dozen pages fell out. (Eventually they stopped falling out.) I - gulp - threw it away after reading. There was no saving this one. I was its last reader...