This is Not a Book
This is Not a Book is a book by Keri Smith that was published in 2009. It is not a normal book, because the book does not exist without the reader. The book is almost completely blank, so the reader creates the content and the final product. The book's purpose is to teach a reader to think creatively and take risks. The main question presented is: if it is not a book, then what exactly is it? The answer is left to the reader to determine.
| Author | Keri Smith |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Keri Smith |
| Country | United States of America |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Penguin Group |
Publication date | September 2009 |
| Pages | 221 pages |
This Is Not A Book is much like Wreck This Journal, also by Keri Smith, except that it pushes the boundaries of what a book can be further. The book consists of assignments that push the reader to go in public, or to risk losing the copy of the book. For example, one assignment encourages the reader to leave This Is Not A Book someplace overnight and see what happens. Another suggests to read a piece of writing out loud where others can hear. Some challenge the reader to risk looking silly in front of others, or to do something that the reader have always wanted to do. Each assignment shows the reader something that This is Not a Book could be.
Page 42
Page 42 of This is Not a Book is missing. This has caused many readers to speculate what has happened to it. Speculation regarding the missing page is largely random.
Homages
The assignment "random occurrence" is an homage to Marcel Duchamp, "window" is an homage to Yoko Ono, "chance operation" is an homage to John Cage, "conundrum" and "top secret document" are an homage to Oulipo, "bureaucracy" is an homage to José Saramago and "voyage" is an homage to Bas Jan Ader.