This is Not a Book

This is Not a Book is a book by Keri Smith that was published in 2009. It's not a normal book, because this book doesn't exist without the reader. There is almost nothing written in the book, so the reader determines the content and the final product. The purpose of this book is to learn to think outside the box and use imagination. The main question in this book is: if it's not a book, then what exactly is it? Well, the answer is up to the reader.

This Is Not A Book is much like Wreck This Journal, also by Keri Smith, except that it pushes the boundaries of comfort zone much 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 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 to risk looking silly in front of others, or do something that the reader have always wanted to do. Each assignment shows you a thing that This is Not a Book could be.

Page 42

Page 42 of This is Not a Book is missing. Many readers have attempted to explain what has happened to it. You can read the entries on the official This is Not a Book site.^[1]

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.

References

Sources

• This is Not a Book by Keri Smith
• http://www.thisisnotabook.org/