Eunoia: The Upgraded Edition (Paperback)

<p><strong>Winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize (2002)</strong></p> <p><strong>Stunning and masterful in its execution, <i>Eunoia</i> is a five-chapter book in which each chapter is a univocal lipogram.</strong></p> <p>The word 'eunoia, ' which literally means 'beautiful thinking, ' is the shortest word in English that contains all five vowels. Directly inspired by the Oulipo (l'Ouvroir de LittÃ(c)rature Potentielle), a French writers' group interested in experimenting with different forms of literary constraint, <i>Eunoia</i> is a five-chapter book in which each chapteris a univocal lipogram - the first chapter has A as its only vowel, the second chapter E, etc. Each vowel takes on a distinct personality: the I is egotistical and romantic, the O jocular and obscene, the E elegiac and epic (including a retelling of the Iliad!).</p> <p>Stunning in its implications and masterful in its execution, <i>Eunoia</i> has developed a cult following, garnering extensive praise and winning the Griffin Poetry Prize. The original edition was never released in the U.S., but it has already been a bestseller in Canada and the U.K. (published by Canongate Books), where it was listed as one of the <i>Times'</i> top ten books of 2008.</p> <p>This new edition features several new but related poems by Christian Bok and an expanded afterword.</p> <p>'<i>Eunoia</i> is a novel that will drive everybody sane.' --Samuel Delany</p> <p>'<i>Eunoia</i> takes the lipogram and rendersit obsolete.' --Kenneth Goldsmith</p> <p>'A marvellous, musical texture of rhymes and echoes.' --Harry Mathews</p> <p>'An exemplary monument for 21st century poetry.' --Charles Bernstein</p> <p>'Bök's dazzling word games are the literary sensation of the year.' --<i>The Times</i></p> <p>'A resounding success ... brilliant.' --<i>The Guardian</i></p> <p>'Brilliant ... beautiful and strange.' --Today Programme, BBC Radio 4</p> <p>'Impressive.' --<i>Sunday Telegraph</i></p> <p>'No mere Christmas stocking filler for Countdown fans. Rather, it's an ingenious little novel ... playful and irreverent ... charming.' --<i>Metro</i></p>