Books with: Creative footnotes/annotations

[Helena]

Hi there!

Pale Fire and House of Leaves are some of my favorite books and I'd love to find more books with a similar format, in which the author develops a story in the footnotes/annotations of a larger text.

Any recommendations are much appreciated! I am looking for adult fiction rather than YA, but it can be any genre (maybe except for romance. I'm not looking to catch second-hand cooties, no thanks). Recs for short stories like "STET" by Sarah Gailey are welcome too.

Thanks in advance :)

[...cats?]

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

[Helena]

...cats? wrote: "Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman"

I don't think that Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch fit the same style since its footnotes just provide more description to the plot and they're written in the same detached voice of the narrator. I'm looking for a book in which the footnotes/annotations are written from the point of view of a character in the story like in Pale Fire or House of Leaves.

Thanks for the suggestion though, Good Omens seems like a great read <33

[...cats?]

Helena wrote: "...cats? wrote: "Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman"

I don't think that Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch fit the same style since its foo..."

Oh in that case, it's not a novel but the short story "Notes for 'The Barn in the Wild'" from Growing Things has that format - it includes marginalia written by the POV character that build on the overall story

[Helena]

...cats? wrote: "Helena wrote: "...cats? wrote: "Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman"

I don't think that Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch fit the same styl..."

Thanks so much!

[Rachel]

S. by Doug Dorst and JJ Abrams might be up your street. It's hard to link on Goodreads because the title is so short! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Moloch]

It isn't exactly a story told in the footnotes, but in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell there are footnotes that are a parody of academical papers and texts: for example they're about "history of magic" (the book is a fantasy novel) and some (made-up) book titles on the subject.

[Helena]

Rachel wrote: "S. by Doug Dorst and JJ Abrams might be up your street...."

Thanks so much, Rachel! I actually just ordered this book and I'm super psyched to read it, it seems amazing. Out of curiosity - which order did you read it in? Did you go text first, annotations second or all at once?

[Helena]

Moloch wrote: "It isn't exactly a story told in the footnotes, but in Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell there are footnotes that are a parody of academical papers and texts: for example they're about "hi..."

Thank youuuu <33. It looks great! I'm basically just trying to find creative footnotes/annotations, so this is perfect.

[Rachel]

S. by Doug Dorst and JJ Abrams - I actually just ordered this book. Out of curiosity - which order did you read it in? Did you go text first, annotations second or all at once?

I have to admit I haven't actually read it, sorry - bought it for my husband who liked it a lot! Hope you enjoy it.

[Helena]

*bump

And if anyone can recommend books with more experimental formats/styles of writing beyond footnotes and annotations, that would be much appreciated too!

[Aerulan]

Helena wrote: "*bump

And if anyone can recommend books with more experimental formats/styles of writing beyond footnotes and annotations, that would be much appreciated too!"

Griffin and Sabine perhaps? It's written as a series of correspondence between the main characters.

[Helena]

Aerulan wrote: "Helena wrote: "*bump

And if anyone can recommend books with more experimental formats/styles of writing beyond footnotes and annotations, that would be much appreciated too!"

[book:Griffin and Sa..."

Sounds perfect, thank you!

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Infinite Jest
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

and maybe other works of his too.

[Gillian]

An article that I found on Tor (the publisher's) website recommends Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine and The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons. From personally reading it, I think that you might like City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer.

Finally, there is this list: Novels with Fictional Footnotes.

[Pamela]

The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles Finney has a long, interesting, and unusual fictional appendix about the characters. The Circus of Doctor Lao

[Helena]

Thank you, Lobstergirl, Gillian, and Pamela! Those all look amazing and I have added them to my list :)

[A]

The Princess Bride has the strangest footnotes of any book I've ever read