Georges Perec's Life: A User's Manual 50th Anniversary

To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the events of Georges Perec's Life: A User's Manual on June 23, 1975, please join us for a read through and discussion of the novel. Please read the whole book for this Meetup.

Life: A User's Manual (original title La Vie mode d'emploi) is Georges Perec's most famous novel, published in 1978, first translated into English by David Bellos in 1987. Its title page describes it as "novels", in the plural, the reasons for which become apparent on reading. Some critics have cited the work as an example of postmodern fiction, but Perec preferred to avoid labels and his only long-term affiliation with any movement was with the Oulipo or OUvroir de LIttérature POtentielle.

La Vie mode d'emploi features many interwoven stories and ideas as well as literary and historical allusions. It is based on the lives of the inhabitants of a fictitious Parisian apartment block, 11 rue Simon-Crubellier. It was written according to a complex plan of writing constraints, and is primarily constructed from several elements, each adding a layer of complexity.

Structured around a single moment in time ― 8:00 p.m. on June 23, 1975 ― Perec's spellbinding puzzle begins in an apartment block in the XVIIth arrondissement of Paris where, chapter by chapter, room by room, like an onion being peeled, an extraordinary rich cast of characters is revealed in a series of tales that are bizarre, unlikely, moving, funny, or (sometimes) quite ordinary.

Amazon Purchase Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Users-Manual-English-French/dp/1567923739