There are three things I happen to say a lot at /r/whatsthatbook

[conuly]

1. I think you're trying to describe a "wordless picture book"
2. This is what's called a "hybrid graphic novel" or a "hybrid novel"
3. The usual term is "novel in verse"

I don't just say these things to be pedantic, although I can't deny that's part of my motivation. No, I say them because they're sufficiently niche categories that you can often find those books simply by searching for the term + the word "list". Which I also tell all those people.

I keep waiting for the term "tete-beche" to come in handy in the same way, but so far, nothing. There is a list up at Goodreads, but it's woefully lacking in any entry anybody might want to look up. So, uh, head over there and add all the tete-beche books you can think of, okay guys?

Comments

[spiralsheep]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ace_double_titles

:-)

[fred_mouse]

Approximately the thought I was having! I also have some by at least one other publisher, so I'll have to go look. Not having a goodreads account probably means i can't add them though.

And now it's actually daytime here

[spiralsheep]

Conuly is presumably now struggling about whether to inform us that none of those are worth reading, lol. Apart from the Ace Doubles (and other older pulp doubles in various genres) there are at least three tete-beche I'd cheerfully read.

Mainstream Fiction

Happenstance: Two Novels in One About a Marriage in Transition by Carol Shields
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/169150.Happenstance

Biography

This Red Line Goes Straight to Your Heart: A Memoir in Halves by Madhur Anand
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52856410-this-red-line-goes-straight-to-your-heart

Art (I've read this)

Good Faeries/Bad Faeries by Brian Froud
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/120253.Good_Faeries_Bad_Faeries

Children: these look fun too.

Round Trip by Ann Jonas
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1430728.Round_Trip

The Story of Snowflake and Inkdrop by Pierdomenico Baccalario and Alessandro Gatti and Simona Mulazzani (and translated by Brenda Porster)
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25330207-the-story-of-snowflake-and-inkdrop

Topsys & Turvys by Peter Newell
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/659651.Topsys_Turvys

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[conuly]

Whether or not they're worth reading, I haven't seen anybody look for them.

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[fred_mouse]

I think, but have not actually looked (because I have spent the day moving stuff and cleaning stuff, because offspring is moving tomorrow) that most (all?) of the ones I have that are not Ace Doubles are either of equivalent vintage SF, or are Australian small press offerings. At least one of which I remember really loving.

At some point I will give in to temptation and go look at the links you have included :)

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[spiralsheep]

There's also more recent SF but it's more likely to use the reversal as a storytelling conceit and less likely to jam two random short novels together, lol. Trek franchise published a mirrorverse tete-beche:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2285223.Fearful_Symmetry

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[spiralsheep]

I hope someone provides you with a healthy chance to show off your vocabulary on reddit soon. "Tête-bêche" is a new francophone term to me, so that's at least +1 pedant point for you on dreamwidth. :-)

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[conuly]

Oh, no, you would be astonished at how eager people are to shove each other out of the way to say "Ah, I believe that you mean tete-beche binding" every time it comes up.

Alas, this is still not actually helpful, but I do like saying it.

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[brokenallbroken]

May I gift you with dos-a-dos?

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[spiralsheep]

You can gift me with the words, a pretty phrase, and thank you (but I hate that format - edges out to get dusty, and no spine for identification - aïe!).

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[conuly]

Whenever people are looking for TB books, the stories are connected. Usually they're romance, but sometimes they're two entries in a series.

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[spiralsheep]

I don't know enough about the old pulp romance doubles to know if they were interlinked stories but I admit I assumed they were like the other genres of pulp double. I'd also assume romance tete-beche travelled on much the same trajectory as other examples and became less of a publishing gimmick, associated with reprinting magazine length stories and offering two-for-one value paperbacks, and more of a literary conceit.

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[fred_mouse]

Oh, that's interesting. I think most of the ones I have aren't linked.

Re: And now it's actually daytime here

[fred_mouse]

I have enjoyed looking through the links, thank you. I went and poked at my catalogue, and determined that I have 4 Ace Doubles, 2 Tor Doubles, and 3 from Australian small press Twelfth Planet. Also that my tags are a mess and I need to spend some time fixing that.