Eunoia

Poetry. Second Edition. The word "eunoia," which literally means "beautiful thinking," is the shortest word in English that contains all five vowels. Directly inspired by the Oulipo (l'Ouvroir de LittA[a¬Arature Potentielle), a French writers' group interested in experimenting with different forms of literary constraint, Eunoia is a five-chapter book in which each chapter is a univocal lipogram--the first chapter has A as its only vowel, the second chapter E, etc. Each vowel takes on a distinct personality: the I is egotistical and romantic, the O jocular and obscene, the E elegiac and epic (including a retelling of the Iliad!). Stunning in its implications and masterful in its execution, Eunoia has developed a cult following, garnering extensive praise and winning the Griffin Poetry Prize. This edition features several new but related poems by Christian Bok and an expanded afterword.