Empty books or blank books are
novelty
Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...
books whose title indicates that they treat some serious subject, but whose pages have been
left intentionally blank. The joke is that "nothing" is the answer to whatever the title of the book asserts.
A number of such titles have been published as attempts at satire or polemic, to some commercial success. In 2017, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' commented that the trend of publishing political empty books had led to "the noble art of political
parody
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
escendinginto a one-joke turn that avoids words".
List of empty books
This list includes, in order of publication, empty books that have been published with an
ISBN
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.
An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and ...
or have received coverage in reliable sources unrelated to the author. The books may have
book design
Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book design, "though ...
features such as
front matter
Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components and elements of a book into a coherent unit. In the words of renowned typographer Jan Tschichold (1902–1974), book design, "though ...
, a table of contents, page numbers, etc., as long as the pages are otherwise blank.
*''A record of the statesmanship and political achievements of Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock, regular Democratic nominee for president of the United States'' (1880). A political pamphlet attacking
Winfield Scott Hancock
Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a United States Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service ...
, Democratic nominee for president in the
1880 United States presidential election
The 1880 United States presidential election was the 24th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 2, 1880, in which Republican nominee James A. Garfield defeated Winfield Scott Hancock of the Democratic Party. The voter tur ...
*''
Political Achievements of the Earl of Dalkeith
The ''Political Achievements of the Earl of Dalkeith'' was a political pamphlet that was published and circulated in Edinburgh during the 1880 United Kingdom general election. It was well presented but inside the neatly printed cover there were j ...
'' (1880). A political pamphlet attacking
William Montagu Douglas Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch
William Henry Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch and 8th Duke of Queensberry, (9 September 1831 – 5 November 1914) was a Scottish Member of Parliament and peer. He was the paternal grandfather of Princess Alice, Duchess ...
.
*Sussol, Max (1986). ''O Que Se Pode Fazer Sexualmente Após 80 Anos'' (translated from Brazilian Portuguese: "What can you do sexually after 80 years old"). 120 empty pages. ISBN 979-0090017033.
* Popular among British university students who used it as a notebook.
* (Available on Amazon) but similar, earlier versions authored by others exist e.g. by Everything Men Know About Women by Dr. Alan Francis.
*
* 200 blank pages in various shades of the color gray. Removed from circulation after legal action by the publisher of the novel ''
Fifty Shades of Grey
''Fifty Shades of Grey'' is a 2011 erotic romance novel by British author E. L. James. It became the first instalment in the ''Fifty Shades'' novel series that follows the deepening relationship between a college graduate, Anastasia Steele, ...
''.
* 100 pages.
* Angered
UKIP
The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest pa ...
supporters who bought it in the belief that it contained actual pronouncements by
Nigel Farage
Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...
.
* Authored by former Oregon First Lady
Cylvia Hayes
Cylvia Lynne Hayes (''née'' Johnson, born August 10, 1967) is an American consultant who was the ''de facto'' First Lady of Oregon as the fiancée of former Governor John Kitzhaber.
Hayes was an unsuccessful candidate for the Oregon House of Re ...
, under a pseudonym.
*
* A bestseller on
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...
and promoted on Twitter by
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
.
* A "bestseller on Amazon.com" (where it was the 543rd most sold book), until it was removed
See also
*
Blank piece of paper
*"
The Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of a Case of 'Writer's Block'"
References
{{reflist
Books by type
Novelty items
*