I dislike the term "meta". It's one of those annoying internet words like "leet" except that meta found a greater purchase in society at large and we seem to be stuck with it for the foreseeable future. But, though I dislike the term, I am not always averse to experiences with the concept. I was reminded of this strongly yesternight as I read to my elder daughter.
We've been (slowly) working our way through the oeuvre of Edward Eager and have just begun his seventh, and last, book Seven-Day Magic. I don't think I'll be giving too much plot away to note that it hinges on the discovery of a magic book. The book is introduced to the readers and to the characters by having them begin to read it and find that it describes them and their finding of that self-same book. The words it uses are the same as are used to start the real-life book that Edward Eager wrote.
I vividly remember reading this for the first time as a child and being awestruck that one could write a book like this. The idea that it could reference itself in such a way was a revelation to me about the ways in which an author could present his story. Not to mention, it's a pretty good book; not Eager's best, but not his worst either.
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