Three by Perec (Verba Mundi (Paperback))

Three works of short fiction by Georges Perec. “One of the most singular literary personalities in the world.”―Italo Calvino

Georges Perec’s mastery of absurdist fiction are on full display in this collection. As Richard Eder in The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Perec’s artistry has achieved a perfect balance between allure and imponderability.”

The novella The Exeter Text contains all those e’s that were omitted from his novel, A Void (Perec hated waste) and no other vowel. In Which Moped with Chrome-Plated Handlebars at the Back of the Yard? we meet Sergeant Henri Pollak and his vehicle that carries him between Vincennes and Montparnasse. A Gallery Portrait is about a portrait, called “A Gallery Portrait,” of the Pittsburgh beer baron Hermann Raffke sitting in front of his portrait which depicts Raffke sitting in front of his portrait.

Mind-bending short fiction from a 20th century master.

Georges Perec was a French essayist, novelist, memoirist, and filmmaker. Born in Paris in 1936, the child of Polish Jews, his father died as soldier in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Holocaust. Much of his work dealt with themes of identity, loss, absence―including his most celebrated work, Life A User’s Manual.
In addition to being honored by the Prix Renaudot (1965), the Prix Jean Vigo (1974), the Prix Médicis (1978), and the French postal service (2002), both an asteroid and a street in Paris were named in his honor―as well as a Google Doodle on his 80th birthday.