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The Last Book: How the Team Behind "Noah Kaplan" Won an IndieReader Discovery Award
The Last Book, credited to a fictional caricaturist named Noah Kaplan and produced by a team led by Jonah Howell, won a 2026 IndieReader Discovery Award. Here is what it is and how it was made.
What is The Last Book?
The Last Book is an illustrated encyclopedia of human history and culture, written, in the story's conceit, for an alien audience. The narrator and credited author, Noah Kaplan, is a New York caricaturist who has been abducted by aliens and decides to explain humanity to his captors, with all the bias and personality that a single human would bring to the job.
The project received a 2026 IndieReader Discovery Award. IndieReader published an interview in July 2026 in which Jonah Howell answered on Kaplan's behalf.
A fictional author with a real team
Kaplan does not exist outside the book. Howell represents the project and described a collaborative process through a creative outfit called Hungry Minds, which also produces a podcast. Illustrator Lev Kaplan contributed the art, and researchers helped assemble the history. Howell traced the book's origin to a simple idea: what would an encyclopedia of human culture look like if it were written for aliens? A related podcast episode is titled How to Explain Humanity to Aliens.
Why the format works
Explaining humanity to outsiders is a device used by satirists since Montesquieu's Persian Letters, requiring the writer to plainly state what is usually assumed. Giving the job to a caricaturist adds another layer. A caricaturist's whole craft is exaggerating what is most recognizable, which suits a history that is openly personal rather than neutral.
What the IRDA win means
The IndieReader Discovery Awards are judged by industry professionals and open to self-published and independently published books. Winning gives a book credibility with readers, booksellers and reviewers who otherwise have few signals for sorting independent titles. For a format-bending project with a fictional author, that third-party validation is especially useful.
Lessons for indie creators
- A strong concept can carry a team project. A clear premise lets researchers, writers and an illustrator pull in the same direction.
- Be transparent about who made the book. Howell's open explanation of the fictional author avoids confusing readers and reviewers.
- Use multiple channels. The podcast extends the book's idea and gives listeners a way in.
Details
- Title: The Last Book
- Credited author: Noah Kaplan (fictional), represented by Jonah Howell
- Illustrator: Lev Kaplan
- Award: 2026 IndieReader Discovery Award winner