by page 50 I’m ready to throw my hand in
I mean 50 pages is a fair investment
what couldn’t I do with 50 pages of beckett
but 50 pages of lists and typographical jokes
hmm
perhaps that’s where the challenge lies
finding something to say about a list of lists
though admittedly slightly more than that really
it's a book about a man recording the attempt by a second man to write a book about a third man on his way to the united states by boat who may or may not be the first man or the second man or both
so no ordinary book
a book that must be written in 365 days while locked in a room living on noodles and coffee and never going out
how many spoons in a jar of coffee
how many cups a day
how many jars a year
you do the math
and what if the third man never gets off the boat
what if he never even got on the boat
what if he
but no
can’t mention camps
or lampshades
or closets
or farms
and sadly no aunt rachel with her fur coat and suitcase
I liked aunt rachel
but hey
while I was thinking about aunt rachel the guy got off the boat
so I’m in for another 50
nothing ventured nothing gained
and if I don’t come up with something after 100 pages
I’ll get the second man to write this review for me
why not
he’s got a typewriter
he can make it typographically interesting too
better if he writes it himself because he keeps changing the names of the characters
sometimes he writes in first person sometimes second sometimes third
and what do you know
the third man is having a mute period
how do you write a ____ period
I should have quit when I was ahead
but hold everything
the second man has delivered something useful
there’s a suitcase
you never know what might be in a suitcase
glad I'm still in
feeling lucky now
might go for 150 yet
might go all the way
double or nothing
feeling lucky is rare
got to grab every chance you get
but I don't have to go into all that here
not unless I can't get the second man
to come up with the goods
then it might be useful to spend some time weighing up odds
meantime I could slip him some decent coffee
le pauvre enculé is drinking instant
I could get a brew going and slip it in his cup when his back is turned
when he’s craping on about toilet paper
how many sheets on a roll
how many rolls for a year
doing multiple multiplications and divisions
tomato sauce sugar salt toothpaste soap
while meantime the story is pretty nearly finished in his head
and he hasn’t even put paper in the typewriter
hasn’t even bought the paper
what if he reaches the end before he moves into the room
cos no room
no noodles
no story


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reading a piece of writing without punctuation isn’t especially interesting it can actually be annoying especially if it is written in block text and not broken up as above and by the way thanks second man no a block text with no punctuation can be a major headache and what if it is written with allthewordsrunningintoeachother now that is a real hangovertypedizzymakingnauseainducingheadspiltter of a headache but all that doesn’t matter because while reading this book you soon realise that with Federman it’s not about being annoying for the sake of it with Federman words are all he has I mean the first man the second man the third man arrive in the united states with nothing no family no money nothing no words even so when Federman finally finds some words he makes them work overtime they literally perform tricks they turn somersaults they dive they soar they smile they cry they mock they sing they riff they scat they march in lines up the page down the page side to side top to bottom in here out there across through and round the corner you love it or you hate it me I love it


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This noodle story is the same story that the first man tries to sell to a publisher in France in [b:Aunt Rachel's Fur|1266821|Aunt Rachel's Fur|Raymond Federman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347446808l/1266821._SY75_.jpg|1255715]: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/776420547