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Roundabout
Ovid Dullann works as an assistant accountant for a multinational corporation and is supporting a family of four; but abruptly, on his forty-ninth birthday, Ovid runs away from his daily work and his loving family to go on a road trip. Struck by inspiration, Ovid knows that an Author is writing about him, and will do anything to avoid acting as a protagonist of a book. But this Author will not abandon his pursuit, and vows to punish Ovid, his wayward protagonist.
270 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 2024
44 people are currently reading
12841 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
Want to read
March 5, 2024of course Jack Edwards brought me here.
i didn't even know lipogrammatical novels were a thing.
i didn't even know lipogrammatical novels were a thing.
Want to read
March 3, 2024Came across doom scrolling on IG (jackbenedwards)
Neat idea for no E’s and interesting to see how to communicate without that use. Challenge I thought of is to write a review afterwards with no E.
Neat idea for no E’s and interesting to see how to communicate without that use. Challenge I thought of is to write a review afterwards with no E.
Want to read
March 7, 2024Jack Edwards brought me here. obv.
I need to read this book now.
bc how do you write an ENTIRE novel without the letter 'E'!!!??? this would be so interesting to read!
I need to read this book now.
bc how do you write an ENTIRE novel without the letter 'E'!!!??? this would be so interesting to read!
Want to read
March 9, 2024"wr you silnct or silncd?"
-this book is so innovative and has such an interesting plot!
-this book is so innovative and has such an interesting plot!
February 8, 2024
Interesting concept and good writing style. Derivative of Stranger than Fiction film with Will Ferrel and Emma Thompson. The lack of the letter “e” throughout the novel is also derivative of “A Void, translated from the original French La Disparition (lit. "The Disappearance"), a 300-page French lipogrammatic novel, written in 1969 by Georges Perec, entirely without using the letter e, following Oulipo constraints.” Fun quick read nonetheless.
March 24, 2024
DNF at 200 pages
I think I have to DNF this. I simply do not care anymore about what happens to Ovid or how this story ends. I picked this book up after watching Jack Edwards’ video and, hearing that the author doesn’t use the letter E in this entire book (even though, spoiler alert: he does) it was too enticing to ignore. At first it was funny seeing all of the ways that the author goes around using the letter E. But believe it or not… this isn’t even the weirdest thing about this book. This story is just bizarre in general.
This story could at first be seen as charming since it has this Stranger Than Fiction element to it where the protagonist has become aware that there’s an all-omniscient author dictating his life and entire existence. But even as it’s trying to be witty and silly in breaking the fourth wall, I still just found it too eccentric and “out there” for my taste. Especially toward the end, I just found it going more and more off the rails, and I was no longer invested in where this whole thing was going. Like, I couldn’t even bring myself to read through Ovid’s trial. I think that’s where I officially threw in the towel because it was all just nonsense at that point.
That being said, I don’t care what anyone says: this book absolutely reads like it was written by AI. There are moments where the writing is super technical and long-winded to the point where you can barely discern what is actually being said. In that way, it felt like homework having to read this book because I’d have to translate what was actually being said and keep my own little version of Sparknotes in my notes app so I could follow along. So at that point, what is the point of writing this book? Just for the sake of getting to say “I did it! I didn’t include the letter E!” I also can’t decide whether the omission of the letter E really is to blame here… I almost feel challenged to write a better story without using the letter E myself to see if mine would be any better.
Final thoughts:
Did the author succeed in crafting a whole story without using the letter E?
Sure… mostly (I’ll let you try to spot ‘em)
So I guess… mission accomplished?
Is it a good story at the end of the day?
Ehhhh.
This book truly reminds me of that one quirky little book your English professor made you read because this book ✨ isn’t like other books✨ and the author did something experimental with the writing style, so now you’re forced to study and appreciate it just because of this ONE THING they did unconventionally.
I think I have to DNF this. I simply do not care anymore about what happens to Ovid or how this story ends. I picked this book up after watching Jack Edwards’ video and, hearing that the author doesn’t use the letter E in this entire book (even though, spoiler alert: he does) it was too enticing to ignore. At first it was funny seeing all of the ways that the author goes around using the letter E. But believe it or not… this isn’t even the weirdest thing about this book. This story is just bizarre in general.
This story could at first be seen as charming since it has this Stranger Than Fiction element to it where the protagonist has become aware that there’s an all-omniscient author dictating his life and entire existence. But even as it’s trying to be witty and silly in breaking the fourth wall, I still just found it too eccentric and “out there” for my taste. Especially toward the end, I just found it going more and more off the rails, and I was no longer invested in where this whole thing was going. Like, I couldn’t even bring myself to read through Ovid’s trial. I think that’s where I officially threw in the towel because it was all just nonsense at that point.
That being said, I don’t care what anyone says: this book absolutely reads like it was written by AI. There are moments where the writing is super technical and long-winded to the point where you can barely discern what is actually being said. In that way, it felt like homework having to read this book because I’d have to translate what was actually being said and keep my own little version of Sparknotes in my notes app so I could follow along. So at that point, what is the point of writing this book? Just for the sake of getting to say “I did it! I didn’t include the letter E!” I also can’t decide whether the omission of the letter E really is to blame here… I almost feel challenged to write a better story without using the letter E myself to see if mine would be any better.
Final thoughts:
Did the author succeed in crafting a whole story without using the letter E?
Sure… mostly (I’ll let you try to spot ‘em)
So I guess… mission accomplished?
Is it a good story at the end of the day?
Ehhhh.
This book truly reminds me of that one quirky little book your English professor made you read because this book ✨ isn’t like other books✨ and the author did something experimental with the writing style, so now you’re forced to study and appreciate it just because of this ONE THING they did unconventionally.
March 24, 2024
If you like dick jokes, fourth wall breaks, and own one or more star wars funko pops, this book is for you.
I had expectations of this book to like the Phantom Tollbooth meets Alice in Wonderland meets Calvino with structural fable puzzles like in Godel, Escher, Bach. Something full of and clever wordplay and imaginative use of the constraints. Instead i got
- a minor put into strange sexual situations (I’m guessing it was supposed to be an allusion to Lolita, but it was used to set up a meta joke at the end. Seems like a symptom of how twisted the original story of Lolita has become…)
- rampant sexual humor that never landed
- a pervasive tone of violence and retribution which didn’t really heighten any tension or served as an inexplicable plot driver for whatever reason.
- terrible pop culture references throughout
- incohesive christian/biblical allegories
- thesaurus laden prose - comes with the territory for this work though :)
- an entire chapter that is just a “Who’s on first?” abbot and costello bit
A novel purporting to not use the letter “e” - except one time on page 23: “…Ovid did what Ovid understood” - and making frequent references to Oulipo, the group of french writers and mathematicians, should be interesting and innovative! But the trite references and the clearly derivative plot line (A Void by Georges Perec is a novel that actually doesn’t have a single “e” and also has a plot about how the letter “e” is missing) make for a pretty boring read.
additionally there are more errors in Durand Durand’s “sub lipogram” poem in the book (page 38) to describe what a lipogram is to the reader in case they couldn’t be bothered to look it up.
First Stanza, a lipogram on H:
A fox has flown into a cupid’s coat —
…
Stanza four, a lipogram on A:
No profound unity is forming on a
tip of orchid pistil, or drop of snow;
why go through all the effort to demonstrate lipograms on different letters other than E and then just …. not actually do it? You’re dying on this hill, but for what?
all told, I respect a commitment to the bit(which is why this is 2/5 and not 1/5) but this book just didn’t resonate with me.
I had expectations of this book to like the Phantom Tollbooth meets Alice in Wonderland meets Calvino with structural fable puzzles like in Godel, Escher, Bach. Something full of and clever wordplay and imaginative use of the constraints. Instead i got
- a minor put into strange sexual situations (I’m guessing it was supposed to be an allusion to Lolita, but it was used to set up a meta joke at the end. Seems like a symptom of how twisted the original story of Lolita has become…)
- rampant sexual humor that never landed
- a pervasive tone of violence and retribution which didn’t really heighten any tension or served as an inexplicable plot driver for whatever reason.
- terrible pop culture references throughout
- incohesive christian/biblical allegories
- thesaurus laden prose - comes with the territory for this work though :)
- an entire chapter that is just a “Who’s on first?” abbot and costello bit
A novel purporting to not use the letter “e” - except one time on page 23: “…Ovid did what Ovid understood” - and making frequent references to Oulipo, the group of french writers and mathematicians, should be interesting and innovative! But the trite references and the clearly derivative plot line (A Void by Georges Perec is a novel that actually doesn’t have a single “e” and also has a plot about how the letter “e” is missing) make for a pretty boring read.
additionally there are more errors in Durand Durand’s “sub lipogram” poem in the book (page 38) to describe what a lipogram is to the reader in case they couldn’t be bothered to look it up.
First Stanza, a lipogram on H:
A fox has flown into a cupid’s coat —
…
Stanza four, a lipogram on A:
No profound unity is forming on a
tip of orchid pistil, or drop of snow;
why go through all the effort to demonstrate lipograms on different letters other than E and then just …. not actually do it? You’re dying on this hill, but for what?
all told, I respect a commitment to the bit(which is why this is 2/5 and not 1/5) but this book just didn’t resonate with me.
November 17, 2024
2.5
that sure was a book...!
that sure was a book...!
March 17, 2024
"But who, finally, is laughing at all of this? If it is all a big gag, aiming at our human folly, what god is coordinating this production, in all its intricacy and its convincingly random organic activity? Who is mocking us with his dark, cryptic brand of humor?"
Masterpiece
Masterpiece
May 14, 2024
Given the small number of reviews this book has it is almost guaranteed the author will read this review so I'd like to preface this by saying I don't have anything against him. I'm sure he's a great guy, husband, and father. I do not have any beef with him but I do have some beef with this book.
This is a story where the premise is more interesting than the actual book. It's painfully immature. There are scenes of threesomes, a mention of incest, and all number of weird, strange, and nonsensical events. The author is including things like Ovid's parents are swingers, a guy is lusting after Ovid's wife, and an entirely too long section about whether or not Ovid is able to get his dick hard. What do these things bring to the book? Absolutely nothing.
This book is in some serious need of trimming. I'm not sure who edited the book but they needed to tell this guy to summarize things better and learn what to cut. Maybe Phong himself edited this book, I don't know. Now, I'd like to talk about a few sections where I feel could've either been removed or heavily (and I mean HEAVILY) cut down. In order to fully go into those sections I will need to mark them as spoilers so just know they contain story spoilers (although I really wouldn't say it matters given how bad I think this book is written but hey, that's up to you to decide).
I'd like to talk about the whole not including the letter E thing for a moment. I really do believe that this is single handedly responsible for the book being written as weird as it is. If the author really wanted to have at least part of the book not include the letter E than why not have Ovid do it to spite or hide from the author. That's sort of what happens but I'm talking about that being only part of the book, not the whole thing. I mean, the author doesn't even manage to do the one thing he wanted to accomplish in here. Peep the first line of the second paragraph on page 23. How did he miss this? I don't know. Like another user described, this feels like the type of book your English teacher would make you read because it's not like other books and it's special because it tries super hard to not include the letter E. Bottom line is that this stupid limitation and challenge holds the book back immensely from being good. Well, okay there is a few other things holding the book back from being good like I mentioned earlier but surely you're picking up what I'm putting down.
The book has many moments where it feels like the author just threw in random shit so as to increase the length of the book. This book does not value the readers' time. There's a point in the book where Ovid say that if no one reads his story anymore it will stop short right there and looking back I really wish I had called it quits and ended the miserable little sods life. I don't mean that out of empathy or sympathy for his plight but rather out of malice because both Ovid and his stupid ass book wasted my time and I will never get it back. I think I will be donating this book to my local library so anyone else who wants to read it can do so without spending money like I did.
This is a story where the premise is more interesting than the actual book. It's painfully immature. There are scenes of threesomes, a mention of incest, and all number of weird, strange, and nonsensical events. The author is including things like Ovid's parents are swingers, a guy is lusting after Ovid's wife, and an entirely too long section about whether or not Ovid is able to get his dick hard. What do these things bring to the book? Absolutely nothing.
This book is in some serious need of trimming. I'm not sure who edited the book but they needed to tell this guy to summarize things better and learn what to cut. Maybe Phong himself edited this book, I don't know. Now, I'd like to talk about a few sections where I feel could've either been removed or heavily (and I mean HEAVILY) cut down. In order to fully go into those sections I will need to mark them as spoilers so just know they contain story spoilers (although I really wouldn't say it matters given how bad I think this book is written but hey, that's up to you to decide).
I'd like to talk about the whole not including the letter E thing for a moment. I really do believe that this is single handedly responsible for the book being written as weird as it is. If the author really wanted to have at least part of the book not include the letter E than why not have Ovid do it to spite or hide from the author. That's sort of what happens but I'm talking about that being only part of the book, not the whole thing. I mean, the author doesn't even manage to do the one thing he wanted to accomplish in here. Peep the first line of the second paragraph on page 23. How did he miss this? I don't know. Like another user described, this feels like the type of book your English teacher would make you read because it's not like other books and it's special because it tries super hard to not include the letter E. Bottom line is that this stupid limitation and challenge holds the book back immensely from being good. Well, okay there is a few other things holding the book back from being good like I mentioned earlier but surely you're picking up what I'm putting down.
The book has many moments where it feels like the author just threw in random shit so as to increase the length of the book. This book does not value the readers' time. There's a point in the book where Ovid say that if no one reads his story anymore it will stop short right there and looking back I really wish I had called it quits and ended the miserable little sods life. I don't mean that out of empathy or sympathy for his plight but rather out of malice because both Ovid and his stupid ass book wasted my time and I will never get it back. I think I will be donating this book to my local library so anyone else who wants to read it can do so without spending money like I did.
March 30, 2025
definitely a book for people who LOVE to read - crammed full of references and a range of different writing styles/ types (a whole play in book four?). very cool that there’s no letter E, but made it a little less easy to read. way too many dick jokes for me personally
January 13, 2025
Woah
(Full review coming soon).
(Full review coming soon).
March 23, 2024
Jack Edwards brought me here as well. I was very intrigued by this book and it definitely held my attention throughout. At times it felt like an Alice in Wonderland-type plot of riddles and puzzles and nonsense. The only thing I didn't like were the sexual and pornographic parts that, to me, felt disconnected.
June 16, 2025
The concept is super cool, but I didn’t enjoy this book AT ALL. Reading when EVERYTHING is written in a roundabout way is exhausting.
July 30, 2024
Aan het begin vond ik het echt een leuk boek. Het is erg surrealistisch en de schrijver doet allerlei speciale dingen met zn taal en schrijfstijl, waar ik wel van kan genieten. Op een gegeven moment ging het surrealisme me alleen een beetje te ver en ging de schrijver nogal disrespectvol met het christendom om waardoor de lol er voor mij een beetje vanaf was.
March 15, 2024
I loved the idea of no letter E. This book was a challenging read but in the best way. Since there’s no “e” the writing style is something I had to get use to but once I was the amount of connections and symbolism is a book that appears to talk nonsense was actually so mesmerizing.
April 26, 2024
I do not know how or where I found this book, but I have big opinions about it that are totally at odds w/ each other. On one hand I think this is the fastest I’ve read a book and the most engaged in awhile, but I would greatly hesitate before recommending this book to anyone, if at all to be honest.
1. I do not like how this book characterizes Durand Durand. I feel like he was given nothing outside of being Autistic and suicidal. I feel a similar way about nearly all of the characters, and I do believe their somewhat 1-dimensional personalities was probably on purpose, but I cannot say it made my experience better. Durand Durand was the worst case of this, in that I really wish we were given just a little bit more about Him, as he was the character I had the most promise for when I started reading.
2. IT TOOK ME EMBARRASSINGLY LONG TO REALIZE THIS BOOK WAS A LIPOGRAM OMITTING THE LETTER E, and for that, I give props to you, Mr. Nguyen.
3. At first I did not enjoy the trans(?) representation that way Alyssa, but I feel like as I kept reading, I came to appreciate the confusing and absurd, yet very realistic experiences he/they endured.
5. This book was almost exactly what I wanted it to be, but I feel like the amount of tangents was a little too much at times, to the point that it wasn’t that I couldn’t keep up with the layers of the story, but I couldn’t keep up with all of the tangents. I also wasn’t a fan of the (albeit short) strange psychosexual parts of this book. I feel like the violence and gross descriptions were immersive, but the strange psychosexual bits were not as well written n such. I’m pretty picky about how these things are written, so it might just be my bias tho.
6. I really liked the ending. I thought it was really solid and well done. I am an ending guesser unfortunately, but this book managed to pull it out from under me.
**ALSO** : I would like to add that although my experience with this book In particular was torn, I am quite interested in reading other books by this author!! I really enjoyed the style of the writing, and I am beyond impressed that the lipogram aspect went unnoticed by me (unintentionally I believe) for so long!!
1. I do not like how this book characterizes Durand Durand. I feel like he was given nothing outside of being Autistic and suicidal. I feel a similar way about nearly all of the characters, and I do believe their somewhat 1-dimensional personalities was probably on purpose, but I cannot say it made my experience better. Durand Durand was the worst case of this, in that I really wish we were given just a little bit more about Him, as he was the character I had the most promise for when I started reading.
2. IT TOOK ME EMBARRASSINGLY LONG TO REALIZE THIS BOOK WAS A LIPOGRAM OMITTING THE LETTER E, and for that, I give props to you, Mr. Nguyen.
3. At first I did not enjoy the trans(?) representation that way Alyssa, but I feel like as I kept reading, I came to appreciate the confusing and absurd, yet very realistic experiences he/they endured.
5. This book was almost exactly what I wanted it to be, but I feel like the amount of tangents was a little too much at times, to the point that it wasn’t that I couldn’t keep up with the layers of the story, but I couldn’t keep up with all of the tangents. I also wasn’t a fan of the (albeit short) strange psychosexual parts of this book. I feel like the violence and gross descriptions were immersive, but the strange psychosexual bits were not as well written n such. I’m pretty picky about how these things are written, so it might just be my bias tho.
6. I really liked the ending. I thought it was really solid and well done. I am an ending guesser unfortunately, but this book managed to pull it out from under me.
**ALSO** : I would like to add that although my experience with this book In particular was torn, I am quite interested in reading other books by this author!! I really enjoyed the style of the writing, and I am beyond impressed that the lipogram aspect went unnoticed by me (unintentionally I believe) for so long!!
October 9, 2024
I must say this was definitely not something I expected at all.
Going into this I had positive expectations; an entire book written with no letter “e”, and the idea that the protagonist is avoiding being written about thus running away from the author. I applaud this idea and respect such a challenge, however it felt as just that. I failed to grasp any substantial meaning or intention behind what was written. It felt like I was reading just words but not information, and at times I questioned whether some of the work was generated by AI to try avoid “e”.
I almost DNFed this so many times and it took me days to finish this even though it is a very quick read. But honestly I just felt more confused the more I tried to read. The plot was going wild directions and there were inconsistencies with the biblical / literary references made throughout, along with strange jokes which I didn’t get.
It was interesting to see the many artworks and poems / alternative verse compositions scattered throughout this book though - sophisticated ideas but unsure how much value they added or how well they were orchestrated.
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood Nguyen’s artistry. I respect his commitment to this work but needless to say I am still confused.
Going into this I had positive expectations; an entire book written with no letter “e”, and the idea that the protagonist is avoiding being written about thus running away from the author. I applaud this idea and respect such a challenge, however it felt as just that. I failed to grasp any substantial meaning or intention behind what was written. It felt like I was reading just words but not information, and at times I questioned whether some of the work was generated by AI to try avoid “e”.
I almost DNFed this so many times and it took me days to finish this even though it is a very quick read. But honestly I just felt more confused the more I tried to read. The plot was going wild directions and there were inconsistencies with the biblical / literary references made throughout, along with strange jokes which I didn’t get.
It was interesting to see the many artworks and poems / alternative verse compositions scattered throughout this book though - sophisticated ideas but unsure how much value they added or how well they were orchestrated.
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood Nguyen’s artistry. I respect his commitment to this work but needless to say I am still confused.
April 20, 2024
I don’t know if I didn’t like this book because it’s bad or because I’m not smart enough for it…..
April 21, 2024
Worst book ever. Thank God I got my money back!
August 20, 2024
This book had me in a chokehold! I had high expectations of this book, and it didn’t disappoint at all.
Where should I begin? Okay this book is divided in 6 ‘books’ and every book has 6 part’s. Every parts gives you another fresh experience while reading. The setting is drifferent and the writing style is sometimes a bit different.
In this book we follow the story of Ovid an ordinary man. But he had the feeling someone is controlling his life, someone is writing about him: the author. This concept alone is so great! Besides that the story is so amazing and philosophical. You are also involved in the story and we talk about how the author is a type of god of his own book and what is god, etc. In your book everything is possible but what if it’s possible your main character has his own intentions and want to control his own life. So he runs away from his own life.
Besides that this book doesn’t involve the letter ‘e’ this alone is a masterpiece of itself! In this book the Ovid himself even explains what a *lipogram* is: ‘a kind if constrained writing or word game consisting of writing paragraphs or longer works in wich a particular letter or group is avoided.’ This is amazing!! He gives examples of it and explains it in the book while talking to someone else so a main aspect of the book is talked about by characters in the book. At one point the author finds a journal of Ovid where Ovid had drawn a symbol that looks like the letters L and F combined, wich I found so funny and amazing because in this universe the letter W doesn’t exist so it is described as a new/strange symbol.
I also really loved the drawings in this book, they added so mych more life to the story. At one point there was a drawing of an ouija bord and it didn’t contain the letter E or the word yes wich I found AMAZING. There was also a drawing of the USA and all the states with an E in it were left out wich was also AMAZING!!
I loved this book so much and there is so much more to tell about this book, but I don’t want to give any spoilers and otherwise this review will turn into an Essay.
Definitely a 5 stars worthy book!!
Where should I begin? Okay this book is divided in 6 ‘books’ and every book has 6 part’s. Every parts gives you another fresh experience while reading. The setting is drifferent and the writing style is sometimes a bit different.
In this book we follow the story of Ovid an ordinary man. But he had the feeling someone is controlling his life, someone is writing about him: the author. This concept alone is so great! Besides that the story is so amazing and philosophical. You are also involved in the story and we talk about how the author is a type of god of his own book and what is god, etc. In your book everything is possible but what if it’s possible your main character has his own intentions and want to control his own life. So he runs away from his own life.
Besides that this book doesn’t involve the letter ‘e’ this alone is a masterpiece of itself! In this book the Ovid himself even explains what a *lipogram* is: ‘a kind if constrained writing or word game consisting of writing paragraphs or longer works in wich a particular letter or group is avoided.’ This is amazing!! He gives examples of it and explains it in the book while talking to someone else so a main aspect of the book is talked about by characters in the book. At one point the author finds a journal of Ovid where Ovid had drawn a symbol that looks like the letters L and F combined, wich I found so funny and amazing because in this universe the letter W doesn’t exist so it is described as a new/strange symbol.
I also really loved the drawings in this book, they added so mych more life to the story. At one point there was a drawing of an ouija bord and it didn’t contain the letter E or the word yes wich I found AMAZING. There was also a drawing of the USA and all the states with an E in it were left out wich was also AMAZING!!
I loved this book so much and there is so much more to tell about this book, but I don’t want to give any spoilers and otherwise this review will turn into an Essay.
Definitely a 5 stars worthy book!!
October 18, 2024
Roundabout is an improvisational work of fiction. The whole novel is a lipogram and a piece of metafiction that often breaks the fourth wall. It contains illustrations, anagrams, acronyms, puzzles and a bunch of Easter eggs and other references. It is written from different perspectives, past, present and future tense.
It covers everything on the spectrum from God and politics to BDSM and dick fighting.
I had a love-hate relationship with this book. Some sections I thought were just plain awful, while others I couldn’t believe the level of genius. At the end of the day though, it really is a lipogrammatical masterpiece.
The letter e is used on page 23 in the word “understood” which unfortunately occurred during the editorial process which was confirmed by Nguyen himself, who now claims his book contains only a “single letter e” 😆. Fun fact: Nguyen actually removed the letter e from his keyboard when writing this.
As for the company name in the book, OuLiPoCorp, I discovered that in the 1960s, there was a group of French writers who formed OuLiPo (as OUvroir de LIttérature POtentielle, or workshop of potential literature), and their sole focus was constrained writing: writing a book without a specific letter, which is what happens here in roundabout.
The word ambiguity was used a few times in this book, and let’s say it well and truly applies to it in general.
Four out of Six Doctors loved this book!
It covers everything on the spectrum from God and politics to BDSM and dick fighting.
I had a love-hate relationship with this book. Some sections I thought were just plain awful, while others I couldn’t believe the level of genius. At the end of the day though, it really is a lipogrammatical masterpiece.
The letter e is used on page 23 in the word “understood” which unfortunately occurred during the editorial process which was confirmed by Nguyen himself, who now claims his book contains only a “single letter e” 😆. Fun fact: Nguyen actually removed the letter e from his keyboard when writing this.
As for the company name in the book, OuLiPoCorp, I discovered that in the 1960s, there was a group of French writers who formed OuLiPo (as OUvroir de LIttérature POtentielle, or workshop of potential literature), and their sole focus was constrained writing: writing a book without a specific letter, which is what happens here in roundabout.
The word ambiguity was used a few times in this book, and let’s say it well and truly applies to it in general.
Four out of Six Doctors loved this book!
August 4, 2025
I just don’t know how to feel about this book. I saw the author promoting the book on tik tok, and was intrigued because he didn’t use the letter ‘E’ once in the story, which was very impressive. However, it made it much more difficult to understand, using less common, more complex words to fill in that space, but that’s not necessarily where my flaws with this book lie.
Many of the characters are one-dimensional, with nothing much to offer towards the plot. The names were also confusing (You, Tomorrow, What, Today), and I still dont understand the need to create such distracting names.
The psychosexual parts were also disturbing and didn’t seem to be of importance or any relevance to the plot, it was wholly unnecessary or I missed how it played into the story.
The tangents alone were VERY difficult to follow, and the plot itself as well.
The relationship between Ovid and the Author is also unclear. Obviously we see that Ovid is freaking out, not wanting to be watched, and the Author dislikes this and for some reason Ovid himself. It doesn’t really explain why he dislikes Ovid to this extreme or any justification for why he wants to torture him so badly and in such grotesque ways It just felt aggressive with no explanation.
While I enjoyed a different style of writing and composition, Im more confused than anything and unfortunately underwhelmed. Really wanted to like this one more.
Many of the characters are one-dimensional, with nothing much to offer towards the plot. The names were also confusing (You, Tomorrow, What, Today), and I still dont understand the need to create such distracting names.
The psychosexual parts were also disturbing and didn’t seem to be of importance or any relevance to the plot, it was wholly unnecessary or I missed how it played into the story.
The tangents alone were VERY difficult to follow, and the plot itself as well.
The relationship between Ovid and the Author is also unclear. Obviously we see that Ovid is freaking out, not wanting to be watched, and the Author dislikes this and for some reason Ovid himself. It doesn’t really explain why he dislikes Ovid to this extreme or any justification for why he wants to torture him so badly and in such grotesque ways It just felt aggressive with no explanation.
While I enjoyed a different style of writing and composition, Im more confused than anything and unfortunately underwhelmed. Really wanted to like this one more.
June 1, 2024
I was so intrigued by this book, and I felt like it had so much potential. While I’m impressed that Nguyen managed to write an entire book without using the letter “E,” (kind of, because it was actually used once on page 23), I feel like the gimmick got in the way of this being an enjoyable read. There was too much attention drawn to the omission of this letter, and there were bits that were forced to keep it up (Ronald Ray-Gun. Really?). The basis of the plot was interesting but executed poorly. While the plot was always there, it got lost and convoluted through the attempt to write a lengthy book that would have been better as a short story.
My biggest ick is that it felt like it was written by a teenager. There were so many sexual references that were written poorly (maybe for shock factor?). There were also too many allusions to religion that seemed like they were attempting to be revolutionary but instead fell flat.
Overall, I wish the story was more cohesive and that the plot was developed to better meet its potential.
My biggest ick is that it felt like it was written by a teenager. There were so many sexual references that were written poorly (maybe for shock factor?). There were also too many allusions to religion that seemed like they were attempting to be revolutionary but instead fell flat.
Overall, I wish the story was more cohesive and that the plot was developed to better meet its potential.
July 11, 2024
This is my first time reading a book specifically because of a gimmick, and I found it to be a bit of a struggle. I initially could not stop analyzing word choices and verifying that e is actually not being used. I found that I continued to read sections of words with no comprehension of the story and then would flip back and read it again.
Once I was able to shut off my analysis and just read, there was occasionally a jarring word replacement (cranium for head, duds for clothes, baby-carrying woman, etc.), but I really missed my referential pronouns: It’s just annoying to read a name over and over and particularly seems forced in dialogue.
I found the actual plot to be really playful, absurd, and funny. Nothing is safe from multifaceted mockery of the author(s)! I can’t really give examples without spoilers, but there are levels of meta, unique POVs, and plenty of referential and self-deprecating humor. Overall, it’s a fun, unique read and worth your time whether or not you care about lipograms.
Once I was able to shut off my analysis and just read, there was occasionally a jarring word replacement (cranium for head, duds for clothes, baby-carrying woman, etc.), but I really missed my referential pronouns: It’s just annoying to read a name over and over and particularly seems forced in dialogue.
I found the actual plot to be really playful, absurd, and funny. Nothing is safe from multifaceted mockery of the author(s)! I can’t really give examples without spoilers, but there are levels of meta, unique POVs, and plenty of referential and self-deprecating humor. Overall, it’s a fun, unique read and worth your time whether or not you care about lipograms.
July 31, 2024
Ovid is navigating his way through life with wife, Anna, and twins, Aaron and Alyssa. He has a good job. But then his friend and coworker, Durand Durand, commits suicide while they were skydiving together. This sends Ovid on a journey of self discovery.
This is where the story starts spiraling out of control. Ovid becomes aware that he is a character in a book and tries to hide from his Author. The Author has chapters about his thought process for why he wants to kill Ovid.
The entire book is written without the letter “e”. And the concept is very intriguing. I liked the way the author changed phrases to avoid using the letter “e”. I wanted to live this book and the beginning is good. But the middle to end gets a little annoying with the story falling apart and its nonsensical plot. I understand the author was trying to do something completely different with his story but it came off as irritating, in my opinion. If he would have told the whole story without the letter “e” I would have liked it better.
This is where the story starts spiraling out of control. Ovid becomes aware that he is a character in a book and tries to hide from his Author. The Author has chapters about his thought process for why he wants to kill Ovid.
The entire book is written without the letter “e”. And the concept is very intriguing. I liked the way the author changed phrases to avoid using the letter “e”. I wanted to live this book and the beginning is good. But the middle to end gets a little annoying with the story falling apart and its nonsensical plot. I understand the author was trying to do something completely different with his story but it came off as irritating, in my opinion. If he would have told the whole story without the letter “e” I would have liked it better.
April 19, 2025
This book is abstract and crass, but I had to find out if its author could do “it” - a lipogrammatic novel?! Its omission of __ is fascinating and kind of mind-boggling, truly. I can’t say I’m a fan of Ovid’s “story” if anybody can call it that, but Phong DID it and my hat’s off to him! I don’t think I could do it. This little post was hard and it’s fractional by comparison!
Do you know what’s missing? How did I do?!
(“E” - I will always love you!!! I had never heard the term “lipogram” before I read about this book somewhere - can’t remember where that was - but to write an entire book without the letter “e” takes some real dedication and meticulous attention to your craft. Phong has some plot points that were disturbing to me, but I have to appreciate what he’s done with this book. Content warning: some strong language and sexual situations, suicide, violence, and some harsh representations of religion/religious symbols. That last one was probably the most offensive to me, he took it too far.)
Do you know what’s missing? How did I do?!
(“E” - I will always love you!!! I had never heard the term “lipogram” before I read about this book somewhere - can’t remember where that was - but to write an entire book without the letter “e” takes some real dedication and meticulous attention to your craft. Phong has some plot points that were disturbing to me, but I have to appreciate what he’s done with this book. Content warning: some strong language and sexual situations, suicide, violence, and some harsh representations of religion/religious symbols. That last one was probably the most offensive to me, he took it too far.)
January 30, 2025
This book was not a “quick read” for me as one other reviewer wrote. It’s taken me on a roundabout, meta journey to view my household, community, town/city, country, and planet from different perspectives. It’s 6 books within a book, multiple characters within characters. Every ten pages I found myself stopping to think about my place in this world, or trying to connect the literary and pop-culture references mentioned throughout, of which I am confident I missed 75% (and to search for a definition every 5 pages). Insightful and blunt, thoughtful and idiotic: I’m glad I picked it up! (And yes I wish I could write this review without using ‘e’ but alas I don’t have the literary capacity nor time to do so).
April 26, 2025
I had to DNF this book which in itself really ticks me off because I hate when a book just sucks. I got sucked in like many others because the whole book is written without the use of the letter E. What I found though is that this book barely makes sense because the author is jumping through hoops to get around the letter e. After awhile I found myself going who cares anymore cause it's hard to follow. There's a ton of words that aren't common, you have to look up words to get the understanding and I would say just use co text clues but some of these sentences are so all over the place I can't make heads or tails of it all. I'm sure someone out there is going to think this is just the coolest thing ever but that someone is not me.
March 23, 2024
I didn't really finish it. Although it is fun to read a book never using the letter "e", I found it frustrating to read a book whose character is 'all over the place', which I rather imagine is the point as he has significant autism, but when the author admits he is narrating as a diety to a character that is agnostic, then half way through the book, turns the book into a play with a trial that is charging him with the possibility of a future crime, I became frustrated and decided not to finish. It is probably a good book for people who like random disconnected dialog, but this is definitely not for me.
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