Gadsby: A Story of Over 50,000 Words Without Using the Letter "E"
Ernest Vincent Wright, Tony Besne
(Deadface Media Group, April 2, 2013)
LIPOGRAM! What the hell is a lipogram? A work of writing that deliberately excludes particular letters Take a peek: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipogram So here it is! The third official installment of an ever increasing volume of work(s)! Ernest Vincent Wright's "GADSBY" A Story of Over 50,000 Words Without Using the Letter "E" A novel (1939) Here is a brief description of what this thing is all about: "THE ENTIRE MANUSCRIPT of this story was written with the E type-bar of the typewriter tied down; thus making it impossible for that letter to be printed. This was done so that none of that vowel might slip in, accidentally; and many did try to do so! Many may think that I simply “drop” the E’s, filling the gaps with apostrophes. A perusal of the book will show that this is not so. All words used are complete; are correctly spelled and properly used. This has been accomplished through the use of synonyms; and, by so twisting a sentence around as to avoid ambiguity. The book may prove a valuable aid to school children in English composition. People, as a rule, will not stop to realize what a task such an attempt actually is. As I wrote along, in long-hand at first, a whole army of little E’s gathered around my desk, all eagerly expecting to be called upon. But gradually as they saw me writing on and on, without even noticing them, they grew uneasy; and, with excited whisperings amongst themselves, began hopping up and riding on my pen, looking down constantly for a chance to drop off into some word; for all the world like sea-birds perched, watching for a passing fish! But when they saw that I had covered 138 pages of typewriter size paper, they slid off onto the floor, walking sadly away, arm in arm..." Ernest Vincent Wright Los Angeles, California February, 1939 ---------------------------- Typeset. Handsewn. & Published by yours truly, deadface.