Porn for Bibliophiles: "S" by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst
Christmas came a little early when I received a copy of S, an ambitious mystery novel from the mind of J.J. Abrams and novelist Doug Dorst.
The concept: It's a book within a book. The Ship of Theseus is the "book" written by a mysterious "author" named V.M. Straka, and inside its pages are the corresponding scrawlings of a college senior named Jennifer and a "disgraced grad student" named Eric who try solve a much bigger mystery made manifest in a collection of letters, postcards, and newspaper clippings stuffed inside the 400+page book.
The hardcover itself is ingeniously designed to look like a used, vintage copy from a library (checkout dates are stamped on the back cover, and the spine is categorically labeled). A lot of thought apparently went into this meta-story, and I wouldn't be surprised if a movie adaptation is being developed as I write this (of course, it'll have to reach some kind of best-selling status to warrant one).
And hey, if they can invest in a creepy teaser trailer for this book (watch it here), they can easily turn this into something for the screen, big or small.
I cannot wait to tear into it. But first, I'll have to complete the massive paperback that is The Passage, which I plan to crack open on my upcoming holiday flight to New York.
*Thank you Kaila for the gift!
@TheFirstEcho
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