Three by Perec

“One of the most singular literary personalities in the world.”—Italo Calvino Three works of short fiction by Georges Perec. 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 and A Gallery Portrait about a painting of the beer baron Hermann Raffke, sitting in front of his huge art collection, which includes A Gallery Portrait" of the baron sitting before “A Gallery Portrait.” Perec's artistry has achieved a perfect balance between allure and imponderability. —Richard Eder, LA Times I once had the occasion to write to the translator of these books, David Bellos, and I took the opportunity to let him know that Perec is my favorite writer, and that, since a translator is to a large extent the creative force behind a translated work, he, David Bellos, is also, in a palpable way, my favorite writer. Few writers have opened up the possibilities of literary art with as much enthusiasm, mastery, and pleasure as Perec. —Martin Riker, Associate Director of the Dalkey Archive Press