Raymond Queneau's 99 stories

In 1947, French author and Renaissance man Dr Raymond Queneau wrote the groundbreaking Exercices en Style. It's rather hard to explain while retaining its magic, but Queneau retold the same —frankly banal—story ninety-nine times. Each time he used a different rhetorical style or viewpoint. These ranged from abstruse methods like polyptotes, through logical analysis and highfalutin styles, to intentionally silly decompositions such as telling the entire story through exclamations. Bof!

Barbara Wright translated the work as Exercises in Style some eleven years after its publication. Her translation remains the definitive English version, and utilizes almost all of Queneau's original styles in composing the exercises.

My friend Richard very kindly bought me the English translation by Barbara Wright, Exercises in Style, for my birthday this year, back in April. I devoured it, of course. It's the easiest read in the world, so much so that I've since started on Queneau's original: I can't say the jokes are as easy to get in that.