He had a degree in philosophy. However, Raymond Queneau is known as a writer. For awhile, he hung out with the Surrealists but questioned their fixation with the subconscious since he preferred mathematics and rational reasoning.
Queneau’s best known work is “Exercises in Style” which is simply the same story told in 99 different ways. The story is this: One day in Paris, the narrator gets on a bus and looks on as two men fight over space. The narrator later encounters one of these men at the train station getting advice as to how to sew a button onto his coat.
The beauty of Queneau’s Exercises is that he shows us that there are limitless possibilities to affront the same situation.
Style is a means of making something common uncommon. Style is a means of transforming the mundane into something special. Style is a means of distinguishing ourselves from others.
Life is photogenic if it has style.
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