In the prologue of this book, the beginning of Oulipo (Ouvroir de litterature potentielle or Workshop for Potential Literature) is described. While Raymond Queneau was creating his work "100,000,,,000,000,0000 Poems, he asked Francois Le Lionnais for advice with problems he was having. Their discussions led to a wider consideration of the role of mathematics in literature and eventually to the creation of Oulipo in 1960. The book is described as a late 20th century kabala and a labyrinth of literary secrets and survey of an original, provocative and productive literary group. This book includes a translation of Queneau's 100,000,000,000,000 Poems, Jacques Roubaud's account of Oulipian history and practice, full documentation of Oulipian writing techniques, a glossary of Oulipian terms, and an analysis of important Oulipian works, such as Perec' Life A User's Manual. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.