When you first read up on a race...

[Glade Riven]

Does anybody really read past the first paragraph or two in a core book or splat before skipping down to the stats? On occassion I might, but usually I read just far enough in to see what the basic flavoring is, unless it's a campaign setting.

"Hrm...elf..what flavor? French polynesian samuri pirates? K, sounds cool, what's the stats?"

 

[Stormonu]

Read only the first paragraph? Blasphemy. I've read large sections of Complete Book of Elves, Races of Stone, etc.

I like a full page of racial information (Culture, Physiology, Customs, etc)

 

[Serendipity]

Yes, I do.
If the idea (race/class/whatever) isn't sound or doesn't interest me, I could care less what the game system aspects of it look like.

 

[Elf Witch]

I read everything I love the fluffy bits the crunchy stuff is always last and not nearly as interesting to me.

 

[Shemeska]

I all but skip over the stats at first and just stick to the actual flavor, giving the stats a look later just to make sure that they don't outright suck. The numbers don't much matter if the race concept and flavor is interesting enough.

Of course, given that my last PC was a half-faerie dragon, I might fall outside the mainstream here.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

If it's a race that I'm familiar with I usually skip to the stats. When I see a dwarf I jump to their stats to see if I like the crunchy bits that go along with the typical image I have for dwarves. If I skip to the stats and see that dwarves get a bonus to hiding in forests, I jump right back to the flavor text because obviously these aren't the typical dwarves that I assumed.

If it's a race that I know nothing about, I like to read all about them to see if the race interests me before checking out their stats.

 

[hemera]

Sometimes I check out the stats first, then read the descriptions fully. Either way though, the whole section gets read. What can I say, I like the fluff text.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I enjoy playing half-elves for their fluff. I think they've gotten shortchanged on stats for years.

I think a person's answer will largely depend on whether they primarily view their character as a role they play (acting) or as the most efficient combat tool possible.

 

[The Red King]

I read everything through, sometimes several times.

Then I pick a class.

Then I read it again.

 

[Janx]

I read left to right, top to bottom. So whatever order things are written is the order I absorb them.