29. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler - Italo Calvino

Italo Calvino is a pretty well-known contemporary Italian author who has written many short stories and novels that have been translated into English. From what I read about him, he has a fascinating background. But I was so confused by chapter four that I had to cheat and look up the book online to figure out what was going on! You definitely have to be sharp to follow the story.
Chapter one introduces a "Reader" who is actually trying to read a book called If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. Every other chapter goes back to this scene (we'll call these the odd numbered chapters, although the chapters aren't numbered in succession). While reading, the Reader discovers that his copy of the book is defective and so he returns it to the bookstore. There, he meets another reader, Ludmilla. They discover that there are two books of the same name - one by an Italian author, and one by a Polish author. Both pick the Polish author, only to discover that the second copy is written by yet another writer - as is the next copy, and the next. What's interesting is that these odd numbered chapters are written in second person - as if you're the Reader.
Each even numbered chapter is the first chapter of different novels. Basically, the idea is that while the Reader is reading these even numbered chapters, he discovers something defective about the book - for example, the Reader discovers that the rest of the pages in the book are blank or the first chapter is repeated over and over.
To read this book, you almost have to step outside of yourself and follow the story of someone who's also reading it. I have never read anything like it! It's not a book you can just breeze through - you have to pay close attention to the chapter number and to what is going on. It was definitely a mental exercise! I'm not sure what types of books would be considered "intellectual thrillers," but that seems like an appropriate classification for this one.