Georges Perec Books

This selection of non-fictional work from the author of Life, a User's Manual, demonstrates Georges Perec's characteristic lightness of touch, wry humour and accessibility.

One Of The Most Dazzling And Ingeniously Contrived Works Of Twentieth-Century Fiction, An Entire Microcosm Brought To Life In A Paris Apartment Block. Serge Val-Ne, One Of The Inhabitants Of The Apartment Block, Has Conceived The Idea Of A Painting Which Will Show In Exact Detail The Inside Of Each Apartment Within The Building, Every Person, Every Object. As He Thinks Of His Picture, He Contemplates The Lives Of All The People He Has Ever Known Or Heard About In Sixty Years Living There. Chapter By Chapter, Room By Room, The Narrative Moves Around The Building, Revealing As It Does So A Marvellously Diverse Cast Of Characters In A Series Of Ever More Unlikely Tales, Which Range From An Avenging Murderer To An Eccentric English Millionaire Who Has Devised The Ultimate Pastime-

Through lyrical prose and reflective inventories, the narrative captures the experiences of sixteen million immigrants who arrived in America between 1890 and 1954. Drawing on his own tragic past, Perec explores themes of chance, exile, and identity, portraying Ellis Island as a symbol of displacement and longing for belonging. This work stands out as a poignant meditation on the immigrant experience, highlighting the struggles against intolerance and poverty that drive individuals from their homelands.

Perec was a leading exponent of French literary surrealism who found humour - and pathos - in the human need for classification. Thoughts of Sorts is itself unclassifiable, a unique collection of philosophical riffs on his obsession with lists, puzzles, catalogues, and taxonomies. Introduced by Margaret Drabble.

A hilarious and inventive office-drone odyssey, this novel serves as a witty indictment of corporate culture and reflects the absurdity of large bureaucracies. Readers will find themselves compelled to explore its unique puzzle-like narrative, especially if they've ever felt underpaid in their jobs. The author, known for his playful approach to literature, crafts a game-like experience that is both engaging and fun. This brilliantly conceptual novella combines humor with acute observations of the office world, making it a perfect gift for those who appreciate corporate irony. Its clever use of repetition creates a rhythmic flow, while subtle deviations introduce moments of dark comedy. The book's intriguing premise and impeccable packaging make it hard to resist picking up. With a knack for absurdity, the author ensures that each reading feels fresh and urgent. This work stands out as a compelling exploration of office life, appealing to anyone with a good sense of humor and an appreciation for the quirks of modern work environments. Overall, it promises to be a delightful and thought-provoking read.

Combining inventive fiction and autobiography in a quite unprecedented way, Georges Perec leads the reader inexorably towards the horror that lies at the origin of the post-World War Two world, and at the crux of his own identity.

A slim volume featuring Georges Perec's writings on the simple task of arranging books and what it can reveal about lifeOne of the most singular and extravagant imaginations of the twentieth century, the novelist and essayist Georges Perec was a true original who delighted in wordplay, puzzles, taxonomies and seeing the extraordinary in the everyday. In these virtuoso writings about books and language, he discusses different ways of reading, a list of the things he really must do before he dies and the power of words to overcome the chaos of the world.Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives--and upended them. Now Penguin brings you a new set of the acclaimed Great Ideas, a curated library of selections from the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

'Perec is serious fun' The Guardian Both an affectionate portrait of mid-century Paris and a daring memoir, Georges Perec's I Remember is now available in English to UK readers for the first time, with an introduction by David Bellos. In 480 numbered statements, all beginning identically with 'I remember', Perec records a stream of individual memories of a childhood in post-war France, while posing wider questions about memory and nostalgia. As playful and puzzling as the best of his novels, I Remember is an ode to life: the ordinary, the extraordinary, and the sometimes trivial, as seen through the eyes of the irreplaceable Georges Perec.

As much a masterpiece of translation as a novel, 'A Void' contains not one single letter e anywhere in the main body of the text. This clever and unusual novel is full of plots and sub-plots, of trails in pursuit of trails and linguistic conjuring tricks.

Perec has rightfully assumed his position in the pantheon of truly original writers of the past century. Godine has issued all but one of is his books in this country, including his masterpiece Life, A User's Manual. Here, in one volume, are three "easy pieces" by the master of the verbal firecracker and Gallic wit. The novella "The Exeter Text" contains all those e's that were omitted from A Void (Perec hated waste) and no other vowel (honest). In "Which Moped with Chrome-Plated Handlebars at the Back of the Yard?" we are introduced to Sergeant Henri Pollak and his vehicle (the aforementioned moped) that carried him between Vincennes and Montparnasse; in "A Gallery Portrait", the sensation of the 1913 exhibition in Pittsburgh depicts the artists' patron, beer baron Hermann Raffke, sitting in front of his huge art collection, which includes (of course) "A Gallery Portrait" of the baron sitting before "A Gallery Portrait," etc.