"Far from frowning on literary rules and formulas, the contributors to this anthology see such constraints as stimuli for creativity. They belong to the Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle (Workshop of Potential Literature), or Oulipo. The Oulipo was founded in Paris in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and Francois Le Lionnais. Its members -- eminent writers, mathematicians, and professors -- are still devoted mainly to literary experimentalism." -- publisher's statement.s