Bizarre Books: Gadsby by Ernest Vincent Wright

Wright had to tie down the e on his typewriter.

In 1939, a man named Ernest Vincent Wright published a more than 50,000 word novel. He called the novel Gadsby. There is nothing bizarre about a man publishing a 50,000-word novel or even doing it in 1939, when there were arguably more pressing matters in the world. What is bizarre about Wright's novel is that the whole thing is devoid of the letter 'e.' Of course, one could argue that there are es on the cover of the novel, but that would be downplaying the massive, bizarre achievement behind that cover.

The novel is a narrative about a man named John Gadsby who is intent on reaching the youth of his hometown and helping them make a difference. It is a full novel with developed characters, plot and setting. There is a beginning, middle, climax and end. The only thing it is lacking is the letter e.

Writers have all kinds of tools for disciplining themselves in their writing. This may be one of the most bizarre, but it very likely taught Mr. Wright a lot about the nuances of language and the importance of certain letters. Of course, it may also have taught him that no letter is important. The English language, after all, has several words for every thing expressed by language. All he had to do was pick the ones that did not have es. I make it sound easy, right? You try it.