Saturday, July 26, 2008

Footnotes in fiction?

When you hear someone say footnotes you might think of a long, possibly boring reference book. But there are two books out there that can change your opinion of those pesky small fonted words at the bottom of the page. The Spellman Files and The Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz are both entertaining books. They are a mix of Stephanie Plum books and the canceled yet wonderful tv show Veronica Mars. The books are about a family of private detectives. Isabel "Izzy" the middle child is the voice of the book. She can't live up to her perfect older brother, David, who escaped the family business and became a lawyer. And her parents think she's a bad influence on her teenage younger sister Rae. The footnotes are more frequent in The Curse of the Spellmans and I thought they really added to the story. They give you history of the situation, things Izzy's thinking and even plugs for the Get Smart dvd collection offered by Time Life. The Curse of the Spellmans even offers you a comical Appendix. Sound interesting? Check them out here.

3 comments:

Lana said...

Hey!
I found your blog on LibraryThing and thought I would stop by to say hi!

I also love the footnotes in the footnoterphone in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next novels - which are basically an extended literary in-joke. :-)

Lori said...

The Thursday Next novels sound interesting! I'll have to check them out.

Cathy said...

I also thought of footnoterphones when I read your post, Lori, so you can tell I'm another Jasper Fforde fan. I even have a friend who reads his books and pictures me as Thursday Next--because I'm the only person she can see who'd have a dodo as a pet and who would also be perfect in Jurisfiction. LOL!