The book consists of two parts entitled eunoia and oiseau. Bok notes that Eunoia is the shortest word in the English language to contain all five vowels and means 'beautiful thinking.' Eunoia is a univocal lipogram in which each chapter restricts itself to a single vowel and owes a debt to Georges Perec. As Bok notes, all chapters also abide by subsidary rules. Oiseau is a French word that means bird and is the shortest word in the French language with all five vowels. It is an anagrammatic text. Although this is the 14th printing of the book, Bok struck through this phrase with ink and overwrote "1st Edition By Fiat." Steve Venright was the producer for the campact disc reading by Bok.The cover states" " 'Euonia', which means 'beautiful thinking', is the shortest English word to contain all five vowels. This book also contains them all, except that each one appears by itself in its own chapter. A unique personality for each vowel soon emerges: A is courtly, E is elegiac, I is lyrical, O is jocular, U is obscene. A triumphant feat, seven years in the making, this uncanny work of avant garde literature promises to be one of the most important books of the decade." Winner of the 2002 Griffin Poetry Prize for Canada. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.