 1947 hardback edition | |
| Author | Raymond Queneau |
|---|---|
| Original title | Exercices de style |
| Translator | Barbara Wright (English) |
| Illustrator | Mario Prassinos |
| Language | French |
| Genre | Constrained writing, Fiction |
| Publisher | Gallimard |
Publication date | 1947 |
| Publication place | France |
Published in English | 1958 |
| Media type | |
Exercises in Style (French: Exercices de style), written by Raymond Queneau, is a collection of 99 retellings of the same story, each in a different style. In each, the narrator gets on the "S" bus (now no. 84), witnesses an altercation between a man (a zazou) with a long neck and funny hat and another passenger, and then sees the same person two hours later at the Gare St-Lazare getting advice on adding a button to his overcoat. The literary variations recall the famous 33rd chapter of the 1512 rhetorical guide by Desiderius Erasmus, Copia: Foundations of the Abundant Style.