The latter's preface claims that Straka was "one of the most idiosyncratic and influential" authors of the first half of the 20th century. This book is Ship of Theseus, the 19th and final novel of an author called VM Straka, which has been translated with copious footnotes by someone called FX Caldeira. Inside is what looks like an old library book, complete with shelf code and date stamps of its borrowing history. The finished product consists of a shrinkwrapped package that – perhaps fittingly – resembles a TV box set. You suspect that this collaboration with Abrams must have taught Dorst a few things about the nature and creation of fiction. With S., Abrams is a sort of "novelrunner", having conceived the project but left the prose to someone else: Doug Dorst, a US novelist and creative writing tutor. On programmes such as Lost and Alias, Abrams operated as what American TV calls a "showrunner", overseeing every decision and episode but not writing every episode himself. And I say "come up with", rather than "written", because one of the conventions challenged is that of authorship. Abrams, though, has come up with a novel of such structural daring that the first task of the audience is to work out a way of reading it.
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