The Modern Novel

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Metafiction

Metafiction is fiction where the author specifically draws attention to the nature of the fiction. While common in twentieth and twenty-first century literature, it can be found in earlier novels such as Don Quixote (where, for example, he refers to the book Don Quixote) and Tristram Shandy, with its typographical marks and black page. There are numerous types of metafiction, as can be seen in my List of experimental novels and this Wikipedia list. Famous examples include The French Lieutenant’s Woman (alternative endings), Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore (If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler) (novel about reading a novel), Rayuela (Hopscotch) (book can be read in different orders), Pale Fire (footnotes which both comment on the story and tell the story) and, in particular, City of Glass (and most of Auster’s novels), where there are several characters called Paul Auster.

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Metafiction
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Metafiction
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List of metafictional works