{"product_id":"many-subtle-channels-daniel-levin-becker-9780674065772","title":"Many Subtle Channels: In Praise of Potential Literature","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat sort of society could bind together Jacques Roubaud, Italo Calvino, Marcel Duchamp, and Raymond Queneau--and Daniel Levin Becker, a young American obsessed with language play? Only the Oulipo, the Paris-based experimental collective founded in 1960 and fated to become one of literature's quirkiest movements. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn international organization of writers, artists, and scientists who embrace formal and procedural constraints to achieve literature's possibilities, the Oulipo (the French acronym stands for \"workshop for potential literature\") is perhaps best known as the cradle of Georges Perec's novel \u003ci\u003eA Void, \u003c\/i\u003e which does not contain the letter e. Drawn to the Oulipo's mystique, Levin Becker secured a Fulbright grant to study the organization and traveled to Paris. He was eventually offered membership, becoming only the second American to be admitted to the group. From the perspective of a young initiate, the Oulipians and their projects are at once bizarre and utterly compelling. Levin Becker's love for games, puzzles, and language play is infectious, calling to mind Elif Batuman's delight in Russian literature in \u003ci\u003eThe Possessed.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn recent years, the Oulipo has inspired the creation of numerous other collectives: the OuMuPo (a collective of DJs), the OuMaPo (marionette players), the OuBaPo (comic strip artists), the OuFlarfPo (poets who generate poetry with the aid of search engines), and a menagerie of other Ou-X-Pos (workshops for potential \u003ci\u003esomething\u003c\/i\u003e). Levin Becker discusses these and other intriguing developments in this history and personal appreciation of an iconic--and iconoclastic--group.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Daniel Levin Becker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0674065778\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780674065772\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harvard University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/30\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.16lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.48h x 5.83w x 1.19d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/15\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/09\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2012 pg. 78\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly Best Books\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/05\/2012 pg. 32","brand":"Daniel Levin Becker","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43925552333055,"sku":"9780674065772","price":42.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_146e798c-24eb-401e-a41f-5f62bd0b359f.jpg?v=1681077949","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/many-subtle-channels-daniel-levin-becker-9780674065772","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}