A Dozen Favorite "Hermit Crab" Books

(Books that take a preexisting form, move into it, and make it their home. Here are twelve examples, organized alphabetically by author.)

A Field Guide to the Aliens of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Seasons 1-7, by Joshua Chapman by Zachary Auburn (novel as fanzine)
The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino (novel as Tarot spread)
A Perfect Vacuum by Stanislaw Lem (novel as reviews of nonexistent books)
Shining at the Bottom of the Sea by Stephen Marche (novel as anthology of a fictive national literature)
Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles (novel as consumer complaint letter)
Twins by Megan Milks (chapbook as choose-your-own-adventure mash-up)
Self-Help: Stories by Lorrie Moore (stories as how-to guides)
The More You Ignore Me by Travis Nichols (novel as wedding blog trollery)
Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers by Ryan O’Neill (novel as literary biography)
The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure by Jack Pendarvis (stories as book catalog entries, contributor’s notes, blurbs, etc.)
Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher (novel as recommendation letters)
Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra (novel as standardized test)

— November 24, 2020