Query: "book" = leave, run away

[Donald M Lance]

on 7/31/02 7:07 PM, Gerald Cohen at gcohen at UMR.EDU wrote:

> I've been asked about the origin of slang "to book" = flee the
> scene, run away (a term I had never encountered before); it has
> reportedly been used on "Law and Order" and "NYPD."
>
(snip)
> _____
>
> I doubt the influence of "boog, boogie"; the similarity of these
> forms to "book" is probably just a coincidence. So the question is:
> How did "book" (one with pages) come to be a slang term for "leave,
> run away, etc."?
> Would anyone have any ideas?

More likely related to "to book passage," I should think.  But maybe to
neither.

DMLance