The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: Exercises in Style, Raymond Queneau

Exercises in Style

Raymond Queneau

On a crowded bus at midday, Raymond Queneau observes one man accusing another of jostling him deliberately. When a seat is vacated, the first man appropriates it. Later, in another part of town, Queneau sees the man being advised by a friend to sew a new button on his overcoat.

Exercises in Style -- Queneau's experimental masterpiece and a hallmark book of the Oulipo literary group -- retells this unexceptional tale ninety-nine times, employing the sonnet and the alexandrine, onomatopoeia and Cockney. An "Abusive" chapter heartily deplores the events; "Opera English" lends them grandeur. Queneau once said that of all his books, this was the one he most wished to see translated. He offered Barbara Wright his "heartiest congratulations," adding: "I have always thought that nothing is untranslatable.Here is new proof."

To celebrate the 65th anniversary of the 1947 French publication of Exercises de Style, New Directions has asked several writers to contribute new exercises as a tribute. Tantalizing examples include Jonathan Lethem's "Cyberpunk," Harry Mathew's "Phonetic Eros," and Frederic Tuten's "Beatnik" exercises. This edition also retains Barbara Wright's original introduction and reminiscence of working on this book -- a translation that in 2008 was ranked first on the Author's Society's list of "The 50 Outstanding Translations of the Last 50 Years."

Book Details

  • Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
  • Publish Date: Jan 31st, 2013
  • Pages: 228
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 7.13in - 5.01in - 0.77in - 0.57lb
  • EAN: 9780811220354
  • Recommended age: 18-22
  • Categories: General

About the Author

Queneau, Raymond: - Raymond Queneau (1903-1976) is acknowledged as one of the most influential of modern French writers, having helped determine the shape of twentieth-century French literature, especially in his role with the Oulipo, a group of authors that includes Italo Calvino, Georges Perec, and Harry Mathews, among others.
Wright, Barbara: - Barbara Wright has translated several Raymond Queneau novels; indeed, as John Updike wrote in The New Yorker, she "has waltzed around the floor with the Master so many times by now that she follows his quirky French as if the steps were in English." She has also translated works by Alain Robbe-Grillet, Robert Pinget, Nathalie Sarraute, and Marguerite Duras. She lives in London.

More books by Raymond Queneau

Book Cover for: The Skin of Dreams, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: The Blue Flowers, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Witch Grass, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Pierrot Mon Ami, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Zazie in the Metro, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: The Sunday of Life, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Exercises in Style, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Sally Mara's Intimate Diary, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Stories and Remarks, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Saint Glinglin, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: The Flight of Icarus: Novel, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Les Ziaux/Eyeseas, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Odile, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: We Always Treat Women Too Well, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Hitting the Streets, Raymond Queneau
Book Cover for: Elementary Morality, Raymond Queneau

Praise for this book

Queneau's Exercises in Style is a thrilling masterpiece and, in fact, one of the greatest stories in French literature.--Vladimir Nabokov
Exercises in Style was a revolution, a book that proclaimed its powerful ideas simply by pursuing their iron logic.-- "The Washington Post" (1/29/2013 12:00:00 AM)
What makes the book compelling is seeing this same, banal tale told through a huge variety of literary styles, from science fiction to rhyme, haiku to official letter. The variety in its repetition becomes at first odd, then hilarious as more and more absurd forms are chosen.-- "The Huffington Post" (1/29/2013 12:00:00 AM)
This witty, bizarre read is perfect for dipping into, or reading from cover to cover, for anybody who loves storytelling.-- "The Huffington Post" (1/29/2013 12:00:00 AM)
It will remind you of just how weird and infinite human language is.--Raphael Rubinstein "BOMBlog" (1/23/2013 12:00:00 AM)
Exercises in Style is an irresistibly simple and frequently hilarious demonstration of the potential of language.-- "The Believer Logger" (1/13/2013 12:00:00 AM)
It's fair to say that Exercises in Style turns the current thinking about writing entirely, and brilliantly, on its head.--Yuka Igarashi "The New Inquiry" (2/4/2013 12:00:00 AM)
It's a testament to Queneau's ability as a writer, and just as interestingly, it sort of blows apart the idea of how many ways a story can be told--and how style can be more important than content.--Chad W. Post "Three Percent" (1/23/2013 12:00:00 AM)