Reading Games ― An Aesthetics of Play in Flann O'Brien, Samuel Beckett & Georges Perec

Bohman-Kalaja (expository writing, New York U.) develops new theories on the nature of experimentation, authorship and inspiration in her analysis of how game theories apply to writing, and thereby how what she calls "Play-Text" works. Focusing on experimental fiction, she starts to develop a theory of play forms, starting with O'Brien's At Swim-Two Birds and its authorial power plays, moving to Beckett's conscious use of dialog as play in Murphy and his perfect avoidance of the play (as drama) in the play )as sport) in Waiting for Godot, Perec's transitions from the inspirational to the material to the puzzle for its own sake in Life: A User's Manual and W, or the Memory of Childhood. Her concluding paragraph includes a number of fascinating insights about mastery and authorship. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Kimberly Bohman-Kalaja received a Bachelor's degree from Scripps College, a Master's degree in Irish Writing from Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Princeton University. She currently lives in New York City and teaches in the Expository Writing Program at New York University.