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A celebration of one of the most curious and playful literary groups of the twentieth century

About the Author

Philip Terry is a translator, and a writer of fiction and poetry. He has translated the work of Georges Perec, Stephane Mallarme and Raymond Queneau, and is the author of the novel tapestry, shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize. His poetry volumes include Oulipoems, Shakespeare's Sonnets, Dante's Inferno, Quennets, Bad Times and Dictator, a version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. He is currently translating Ice Age signs.

Reviews

A superb selection ... Lovers of word games and literary puzzles will relish this indispensable anthology celebrating Perec, Calvino and many others ... Terry's anthology connects us to a wider world of Oulipian wordplay, and beyond.
*The Guardian*

There is real gold in Terry's selection ... the perfect illustration of the Oulipian balancing act of producing writing that is both wry and moving at the same time.
*Literary Review*

At times, you simply have to stand back in amazement ... Philip Terry - himself a fine formalist poet and a distinguished translator of Oulipo - has put together as good a tasting menu as any. The 100 examples of Oulipian and relatedly formalist work here maintain an almost uniform virtuosic ingenuity, and reward reading, even en masse.
*Daily Telegraph*

Magnificent ... Terry's introduction pays witty homage to Oulipians' obsession with order, for it offers an A-Z guide to the movement's major writers and formulae.
*Times Literary Supplement*

Philip Terry's collection is packed with fabulous, wide-ranging work thatdisplays the full ingenuity, brio and originality of Oulipian ideals in action. An exhilarating feat of in-depth reading, and translating, it takes its place as the definitive anthology in English for decades to come.
*Marina Warner*

Philip Terry's rich anthology of Oulipo writings from Rabelais to Perec [is] a salutary reminder that laughter and linguistic dexterity are as much part of what it means to be human as violence and greed.
*Times Literary Supplement*

A wonderful anthology.
*Michèle Métail*

Indispensible, informative and playful ... no two pages are alike, and every page is quite unlike anything else you've ever read.
*Stride Magazine*