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. Sanders is Professor of French, Department of Linguistic and International Studies, University of Surrey. Sanders is Professor of French, Department of Linguistic and International Studies, University of Surrey.

"A marvelous sendup of the Surrealists of the late 1920s and early 1930s as well as a moving love story...Both a madcap roman a clef... and a parable about the search for spiritual equilibrium and human meaning." -- Kirkus "Written in a cool detached style, full of witticisms and puns, this is Queneau at his most accessible." -- PW

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. Sanders is Professor of French, Department of Linguistic and International Studies, University of Surrey. Sanders is Professor of French, Department of Linguistic and International Studies, University of Surrey.

"A marvelous sendup of the Surrealists of the late 1920s and early 1930s as well as a moving love story...Both a madcap roman a clef... and a parable about the search for spiritual equilibrium and human meaning." -- Kirkus "Written in a cool detached style, full of witticisms and puns, this is Queneau at his most accessible." -- PW