Oulipo

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In 1960, a French literary group known as the Oulipo was formed. The group's mission was to explore the role of form in literature and to develop new forms in the process. Before the decade was up, their experimentation led them to invent the gamebook form (under the name "tree literature"). The Oulipo's interactive writing were not the first of their kind, but they came so early that it is likely they were one of several simultaneous inventors. Within the Oulipo, the idea was proposed by François Le Lionnais and first implemented by Raymond Queneau in his short story Un conte à votre façon. The idea of applying this form to theater was later used by Paul Fournel and Jean-Pierre Énard in "The Theater Tree: A Combinatory Play." Both of these works were translated into English and published in the anthology Oulipo: A Primer of Potential Literature, first released by University of Nebraska Press and later reprinted in paperback by the Dalkey Archive Press.

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Oulipo: A Primer of Potential Literature
Authors: Raymond Queneau ("A Story As You Like It"), Paul Fournel and Jean-Pierre Énard ("The Theater Tree: A Combinatory Play")
Illustrator: Todd Michael Bushman (Dalkey Archive Press cover)
Translator: Warren F. Motte, Jr.
First Published: 1967 (original publication of Un conte à votre façon), 1986 (original University of Nebraska Press edition), 1998 (revised Dalkey Archive Press edition)
ISBN: 1-56478-187-9 (revised Dalkey Archive Press edition)
Length: 21 sections ("A Story As You Like It"), 15 sections ("The Theater Tree: A Combinatory Play")
Number of Endings: 2 ("A Story As You Like It"), 2 ("The Theater Tree: A Combinatory Play")
Plot Summary: In Un conte à votre façon (translated here as "A Story As You Like It"), the reader is given various silly choices which determine what story is told; it usually involves vegetables discussed in the tone of a fairy tale. In "The Theater Tree: A Combinatory Play," a play involving the complicated lives of a royal family is summarized, with spots where the audience could change the course of the play presented in standard gamebook fashion.
My Thoughts: Although the gamebook stories it contains are so short as to be rather trivial (if slightly amusing), this is an interesting book. It shows a significant step in the evolution of the gamebook, and though many of the essays it contains are rather dry and dull, others reveal interesting insights into the role of form over content in literature. If you enjoy experimental writing, give this one a look!