Jacques Jouet

A stranger takes over a role in a play, leaving the rest of the cast to ponder his motives. Two minutes into the second act, there is a knock on Nicolas Boehlmer’s dressing-room door, just as he’s smoking his last cigarette before having to go back on stage . . . and, without thinking, he says,“Come in,” still in character. He quickly finds himself bound, gagged, and stripped by a man who appears to be his mirror image: costumed in the same wig, make-up, and clothes. Nicolas is powerless to prevent his usurper from going out and playing his role—with increasingly ridiculous consequences. Is this “upstaging” the act of a depraved amateur? Sabotage by a rival? A piece of guerrilla theater? A political statement? Whatever the cause, Nicolas and his fellow actors soon find their play—and their lives—making less and less sense, as the parts they play come under assault by this irrational intruder.

Upstaged

Harry Mathews

Italo Calvino

Paul Fournel

Claude Berge

Texts from the Bibliotheque Oulipienne (Anti-Classics of Dada.)

Oulipo Laboratory

In an unnamed country, the President of the Republican Council, wanting to "do something big," strikes upon the idea of building a 1,500-meter high mountain as an inspirational monument to national greatness. Construction of the mountain will reduce unemployment, attract hordes of tourists, and the idea can even be exported for sale to other countries. Mountain R relates the rise and fall of this insane project through the eyes of those involved over several decades: the President whose double-talk sets the plan in motion, a worker who, years later, tells his daughter about the disastrous consequences of the never-completed mountain, and an author commissioned to write a novel about the project. An incisive satire about the dangers of half-witted government officials who use political rhetoric to manipulate the patriotism of their constituents, Mountain R is a humorous yet disturbing allegory quite appropriate to our times.

Mountain R

roman

Le directeur du Musée des Cadeaux des Chefs d'Etat de l'Etranger

Soyez une petite souris dans une réunion de responsables du nettoiement. Vous y entendrez intervenir chacun, en temps réel, dans l'ordre et le plus grand désordre. On manipule, on s'invective, on plaisante grassement et craint l'avenir. On complote et rêve d'exclure, voire d'exterminer. La République va mal. A l'occasion, certaines passions amoureuses n'en traversent pas moins l'ordre du jour, ce qui ne simplifie pas les choses. On parle beaucoup. On parle beaucoup de nettoiement, mais ça reste noir. Le roman est une sonde sortie sur le pas de la porte.

Une réunion pour le nettoiement

«J'écris, de temps à autre, des poèmes de métro. Ce poème en est un. Voulez-vous savoir ce qu'est un poème de métro? Admettons que la réponse soit oui. Voici donc ce qu'est un poème de métro. Un poème de métro est un poème composé dans le métro, pendant le temps d'un parcours. Un poème de métro compte autant de vers que votre voyage compte de stations moins un. Le premier vers est composé dans votre tête entre les deux premières stations de votre voyage (en comptant la station de départ). Il est transcrit sur le papier quand la rame s'arrête à la station deux. Le deuxième vers est composé dans votre tête entre les stations deux et trois de votre voyage. Il est transcrit sur le papier quand la rame s'arrête à la station trois. Et ainsi de suite. Il ne faut pas transcrire quand la rame est en marche. Il ne faut pas composer quand la rame est arrêtée. Le dernier vers du poème est transcrit sur le quai de votre dernière station. Si votre voyage impose un ou plusieurs changements de ligne, le poème comporte deux strophes ou davantage. Si par malchance la rame s'arrête entre deux stations, c'est toujours un moment délicat de l'écriture d'un poème de métro.»

Poèmes de métro

De courts poèmes écrits pendant des voyages en métro.

Amber Shields

Based on the life of Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, Jacques Jouet's "Savage" compels the reader to ask whether it is the primitive or the civilized man who is savage. At the height of the Belle ?poque, an eccentric young clothing designer searches for inspiration and identity as an artist among the "savage" peoples of France's colonies. Influenced by several exotic lovers, a quirky "vieille" dame, and ?douard Manet himself, Paul's increasingly unconventional designs parallel his increasingly unbalanced state of mind as he struggles to find a market for his work among the haute bourgeoisie. The failure of this venture, coupled with psychosis due to an untreated illness, ultimately leads to his demise.

Savage

Eric Lamb

Based on a trip across France taken by an Oulipo member in the late 1980s, a creative exploration of the eponymous vehicle's possibilities features an eccentric cast of passenger characters who exchange preoccupations and reactions while traveling to unfixed destinations. Original.

Jacques Jouet

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