TheNamesake of a story can be all kinds of things: a person, a symbol, a weapon. Sometimes, in just a touch of meta-fiction, the Namesake is a book within the book. Sometimes, as in ''[[Literature/TheStormlightArchive The Way of Kings]]'', this is a holy book. Sometimes, as in ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'', it's a distinctly unholy book. In any case, it's very important in some way to the story, although how is not always clear at first.


* Creator/MarvelComics published ''Darkhold: Pages From the Book of Sin'' in which a group of heroes tried to find the lost pages of the eponymous Darkhold. (The Drakhold is basically the MarvelUniverse's equivalent of the Necronomicon.)
* ''The Krypton Chronicles'' was Creator/DCComics' mini-series exploring {{Superman}}'s ancestry. In it, Clark kent is commissioned to write a book about Superman's ancestors called ''The Krypton Chronicles''.
** Similar to ''The Krypton Chronicles'' was ''ComicBook/TheAtlantisChronicles'', which explored ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'s ancestry through The Atlantis Chronicles, the collected archives of Atlantean Royal Historians.
* ''ComicBook/{{Marvels}}'' is about a Muggle Daily Bugle photographer named Phil Sheldon, who documents the activities and reputations of the Marvel Universe's superheroes. Near the end, he publishes a book called Marvels.
* ''SelfDemonstrating/LexLuthor: The Unauthorized Biography'' is a graphic novel about a reporter trying to write an unauthorized biography about Lex Luthor.
* ''The Life Story of ComicBook/TheFlash'' is based on the book that Iris West will write about The Flash in the future.

* ''Franchise/TheEvilDead'' was originally named ''Book of the Dead'' after the book of the same name, which appears in the movie. The name was changed because the executives didn't want people to think it was a movie about a book.
* ''Film/RaisingCain'' gets its name from the book that main character's father wrote while experimenting on him.
* ''Death Trap'' the film is about two guys writing a murdery mystery called ''Death Trap'' who indulge in some murder themselves.
* ''Film/SevenPsychopaths'' is about a guy trying to write a screenplay called ''Film/SevenPsychopaths'', and how he gets involved with several himself.
* ''Film/{{Argo}}'' is based on a true story. However, the title refers to the fake film script that is used as a cover to get American hostages out of Iran.
* ''Film/ThreeAmigos'' is about a trio of actors who star in short silent films with that title.
* ''Les Miserables'' (1995) alternates between two storylines - one a direct adaptation of the novel and another set in World War II France.
* ''Film/ThePurpleRoseOfCairo'' is about characters in the titular film and how they interact with their viewers.

* ''[[Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain The Book of Three]]'': A magical book that serves as a [=MacGuffin=] for the story.
* ''Literature/TheCityAndTheCity''
* ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'': Inside the story, the Cryptonomicon is a comprehensive study of cryptography, both for making and breaking codes.
* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'': The most important reference work for any hoopy galactic traveller. The entry for Earth consists of "Mostly Harmless".
* ''Literature/HouseOfLeaves''
* ''Literature/InfiniteJest'': The FictionalDocument is, in this case, a film so mesmerizing that the U.S. government is interested in weaponizing it.
* ''Literature/TheKingInYellow'': A play that when read or performed, drives the audience violently insane.
* ''Literature/TheManualOfDetection'': The book in question is a handbook for the detectives of The Agency. [[spoiler:Almost all extant editions appear to be missing a chapter.]]
* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': Not only does the whole premise revolve around Bastian reading a book called "The Neverending Story", but even within ''that'' book is another book called "The Neverending Story", which has the same exact words as the book that the audience is holding in their very hands. Later Bastian even lampshades this, as he ponders the possibility that everything he is doing now might be read by somebody else reading "The Neverending Story".
* ''Literature/PaleFire''
* ''So You Want to Be a Wizard'' is the first book in the YoungWizards series, and also a title of the main character's [[SpellBook wizards' manual]] that appears in it. Later books in the series imply that the fictional book looks like a real-world book to anyone unauthorized tries to read it. In the same series, ''Book Of Night With Moon''.
* The Creator/RobertRankin novel ''The Suburban Book of the Dead: Armageddon III: The Remake'' is named after ''The Suburban Book of the Dead'', a religious tome within the book ... but which turns out not to be the same ''Suburban Book of the Dead'' that appeared in ''Armageddon: The Musical''.
* Also by Rankin, ''The Book of Ultimate Truths'', the first novel in the Hugo Rune/Cornelius Murphy saga, is named after Rune's greatest work.
* ''The Twilight of the Vilp'' by Paul Ableson is about the surreal misadventures of a novelist attempting to write a novel titled ''The Twilight of the Vilp''.
* ''[[Literature/TheStormlightArchive The Way of Kings]]'': The book is something between a holy book, philosophy, and a chivalric code.
* ''TheMalazanBookOfTheFallen'' [[spoiler: which the Crippled God writes in tribute to all those who died in the course of his healing and liberation.]]
* The ''VideoGame/{{Myst}}'' novel ''The Book of Atrus'' is named for the journal of Atrus that is found near the end of the story.
* ''36 Arguments for the Existence of God'' refers to an ''appendix'' within the protagonist's book within a book ''The Varieties of Religious Illusion''. However, self-referentially, the novel itself appends the (or a) similar list after the last chapter of fiction.

* ''Series/{{Pulaski}}'' (a.k.a. ''Pulaski: The TV Detective'') was series about Larry Summers, an actor who plays the title character (a former priest turned PI) on the ShowWithinAShow ''Pulaski'', and who keeps getting caught up in adventures that would be more appropriate for the character he plays.
* ''Series/{{Cult}}'' is about a cult which follows the TV show within a show called ''Cult'', which features a cult. To pile on top of that, the show within a show was based on a cult within the main show. One only wonders what would have happened if the show had been a hit and developed a fanatical cult following.

* ''Theatre/TheRealInspectorHound'' is a play about two theater critics watching a production of ''The Real Inspector Hound''.
* ''Theatre/CityOfAngels'' is about the production of a FilmNoir titled ''City of Angels''.
* Creator/RodgersAndHammerstein's ''Me and Juliet'' is a musical about a musical.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

* ''Webcomic/ABeginnersGuideToTheEndOfTheUniverse'' [[spoiler:(though it doesn't show up until the very end.)]]
* ''The Art of Domination''
* ''The Hero's Handbook''