# Gimmick Books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [November 1, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167 "2022-11-01T19:56:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/101 "2022-11-09T01:42:21Z")
You’re right. I misread the cite I found. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/102 "2022-11-10T19:02:26Z")
Then there’s the gimmick of [binding books with human skin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropodermic_bibliopegy). Also known as Anthropodermic bibliopegy. The Anthropodermic Book Project lists their last update (2019) [here](https://anthropodermicbooks.org/). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/103 "2022-11-10T21:19:07Z")
So: If I were to publish a book, and I wanted to start a (baseless) rumor that it was anthropodermic, what kind of leather should I use? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/104 "2022-11-11T01:05:21Z")
The books that the Anthropodermic Book Project proved were not made of human skin were mostly made from sheep or pig skin. Although most of the books with claims on them were old and handmade, rather than openly published. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/105 "2022-11-11T01:19:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > > [@Nyvaak](#): > > > > Penn and Teller’s _How to Play With Your Food_ came with a large, clear, plastic envelope just inside the cover. It contained various props that one could use to perpetrate the pranks described in the book. > > So did **Penn and Teller’s Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends** First ones I thought of when I saw this thread. These were great, great books. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/106 "2022-11-11T01:25:45Z")
Philly’s Mutter Museum (there should be an umlaut over the u in Mutter) has several books that are supposed to be bound in human skin. IIRC the display explains that surgeons would train on a cadaver, writing and drawing what they learned in a journal. When the cadaver was all used up, the skin was used to make covers for the journal. Considering the vast amount of human remains and bits in the Mutter, I’m assuming the display is accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/107 "2022-11-11T01:31:17Z")
Yes, I’ve seen YouTube videos by the book project that spoke of the Mutter books. ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/108 "2022-11-15T02:01:49Z")
_Open Me, I’m A Dog_ by Art Spiegelman, is a dog who gets turned into a book called _Open Me, I’m A Dog_. Every copy with a leash attached to the spine ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/109 "2022-11-15T17:27:33Z")
In the Encyclopedia Brown series of books the answer to the mystery is printed backwards so you either have to hold the page up to a light and read it from the reverse side or hold it up to a mirror. As a child I had a picture book that came with a flexible mirror that you used to view “both sides” of the illustrations. And two obvious ones I haven’t seen mentioned yet are books with “built in” markers (like a bible with a marking ribbon) and diaries with a built in lock. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/110 "2022-11-15T19:51:00Z")
I have a book of illustrations where each page was divided into two or three parts. Each top half (or third) could be matched with any other illustration to create all kinds of weird pictures. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/111 "2022-11-15T20:04:02Z")
I’m not sure if this counts as a “gimmick book”, since it’s really the topic that makes it a gimmick. There is a type of art called “Anamorphic art”, where the original image is distorted, and only properly viewable in a curved mirror (or at an extreme angle), Typical mirrors are cylindrical or conical mirrors. I have a couple of books on anamorphic art, and both come with a sheet of aluminized mylar that can be rolled into the required cylinder or cone for viewing. > **[23 Stunning Anamorphic Artworks That Can Only Be Seen With A Mirror Cylinder](https://www.boredpanda.com/anamorphic-cylinder-art/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic)** > > A year ago, we wrote about Jonty Hurwitz and his amazing anamorphic art that can only be seen in the reflection of a mirrored cylinder. Although the technique was created in the late Renaissance (16th century), artist like Jonty and István Orosz made... > **[Soda Can Mirror](https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/soda-can-mirror)** > > Wrap a piece of Mylar around a soda can to make a cylindrical mirror. Then create your own anamorphic art to explore how curved mirrors reflect images. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XHQ5OG9ABzI/maxresdefault.jpg "How to Draw Anamorphic Skull by Vamos") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHQ5OG9ABzI) Books: > **[Anamorphic Art by Jurgis Baltrusaitis: new (1977) | Hafa Adai Books](https://www.abebooks.com/Anamorphic-Art-Jurgis-Baltrusaitis-Harry-Abrams/31265945893/bd?cm_mmc=ggl-_-US_Shopp_Trade50up-_-product_id=COM9780810906624NEW-_-keyword=&gclid=CjwKCAiAjs2bBhACEiwALTBWZaYgbFU3QSggt-tewEWwODjLPC1rZqbhZGeqF9xVte0HdVRImRDLmxoCwxUQAvD_BwE)** > > AbeBooks.com: Anamorphic Art > **[Hidden images: Games of perception, anamorphic art, illusion : from the...](https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780810990197?cm_sp=rec-_-pd_hw_o_1-_-plp&reftag=pd_hw_o_1)** > > AbeBooks.com: Hidden images: Games of perception, anamorphic art, illusion : from the Renaissance to the present (9780810990197) by Leeman, Fred and a great selection of similar New, Used and Collectible Books available now at great prices. > **[The Magic Mirror: An Antique Optical Toy - McLoughlin Bros.: 9780486238470 -...](https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780486238470?cm_sp=rec-_-pd_hw_o_1-_-plp&reftag=pd_hw_o_1)** > > AbeBooks.com: The Magic Mirror: An Antique Optical Toy (9780486238470) by McLoughlin Bros. and a great selection of similar New, Used and Collectible Books available now at great prices. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/112 "2023-10-01T23:46:05Z")
Maybe not a gimmick, _per se_, but it felt like one: Stephen King put out two books simultaneously, _The Regulators_ and _Desperation_, that were “mirror images” of each other – same characters, mostly. It was hard not to think of one while you were reading the other and that was a huge distraction. Plus, they really were not that good in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167/113 "2023-10-02T00:30:58Z")
Yeah, agreed. I preferred Desperation because The Regulators was a huge gross-out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gimmick-books/974167.md?page=5)