Each of these makes its argument by being it. Bantock’s novel is literally other people’s mail, glued in and waiting to be unfolded; Dan Price’s guide to sketchy, unprecious journaling is hand-lettered on every page rather than typeset; and Jack London, in 1903, told writers to slap every stray thought into a notebook they carried everywhere. None of it survives translation to a screen, which is the whole point.