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The Art And Craft Of Approaching Your Head Of Department To Submit A Request For A Raise (1968)

by Georges Perec(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

009954122X (ISBN13: 9780099541226)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Vintage Classics

review 1: Written in the 1960s, this short story is still incredibly relevant to today. Undertaken as a sort of experiment (what Perec work isn't, though?) of an algorithm used to ask your boss for a raise, this story is written without punctuation or capitalization which makes it seem, erroneously, like one long sentence. I read this text aloud and at once to make it easier for my brain to digest. Following a handy flow-chart, this reads like a choose-your-own-adventure story, with the ceaseless repetition that a computer handling a flow-chart algorithm would encounter. Despite this, Perec attempts to keep the text as simple as possible - for one must always keep things as simple as possible. A very unique text that had me oscillating between laughter and pity for the neurotic char... moreacter. It leads me to wonder if Woody Allen ever was a fan of Perec, as his neurotic film characters play out in similar ways. This quick read is deceptive in scope, depth, and meaning.
review 2: I would really, really love to see the theatre version of this performed sometime, because I got the greatest enjoyment out of this book while reading it aloud to a friend. One, it's much easier to follow that way, but it's also just that much more absurd when narrated out loud. I'm impressed that Perec was able to pull of writing like a computer algorithm and enjoyably so. Probably my favorite phrase was the "circumperabulate the various departments which constitute the whole or part of the organization of which you are an employee" and especially the variations thereof later on.Definitely one I'd like to reread, and find in French if possible. less

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