Dump This Book While You Still Can!

In one of the most thought-provoking and wry books by one of the most intriguing contemporary writers in French literature, readers become party to the dilemma of 'challenging' literature in a singularly involving and amusing fashion. Opening a book that has mysteriously appeared amid the clutter of his desk, the narrator finds himself exhorted not to read further, to throw the book away! Instead (but of course) he tries different strategies for approaching the book, none of which work. The narrator's tempestuous, increasingly obsessive relationship with the book he is determined to read, interwoven with the story of a real (but no less enigmatic) love affair, is, in its own challenging way, a charmed and charming, deeply provocative meditation upon reading and writing, and their inevitable discontents. "Dump This Book" offers a new angle on the work of this original writer and an ironic perspective on the power of reading to produce meaning. Marcel Benabou, author of more than a dozen books, lives in Paris and pursues his current positions as professor of ancient history at the University of Paris and as the permanent provisional secretary of Oulipo. His "Jacob, Menahem, and Mimoun" (Nebraska 1998) won the National Jewish Book Award for autobiography. Steven Rendall is the author of "Distinguo: Reading Montaigne Differently" and has translated numerous books. Warren Motte, a professor of French at the University of Colorado, is the translator and editor of "Oulipo: A Primer of Potential Literature" (Nebraska 1986) and "Playtexts: Ludics in Contemporary Literature" (Nebraska 1995).