Which of the following novels was written without using the letter "E"?

Believe it or not, the 1939 novel "Gadsby" by Ernest Vincent Wright was written with out using the most commonly used letter in the English alphabet. Not to be confused with "The Great Gatsby", Wright said in his introduction to Gadsby that "this story was written, not through any attempt to attain literary merit, but due to a somewhat balky nature, caused by hearing it so constantly claimed that 'it can't be done'".

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

Test your knowledge

What are your thoughts on this subject?

66 Comments

Michael Doherty

Must hav bn vry difficult to writ that book.

Christopher J Voce

And a third could be cancelled due it’s very first sentence, ‘Call me Ishmael ‘ !

Karin Johansson

Ken Jackson, not in the book. In the intro and on the first pages. But not in the novel. So stop behaving like a5 year old

RM Mike Walkos

English teachers (professors mostly) will often assign this book with the question, before it is read, "What is missing from this book?" Then answers are astounding, and seldom do the students get the answer correct

stormejohn

It would be pretty tough to write "Of Mice and Men" or "Heart of Darkness" without an "E".

Cujo

Any among us that could accomplish this miraculous bit of ambition, will no doubt, claim an honor most singular.

JRW

Another such work is by Georges Perec whose 1969 novel is called La Disparition. It is in French and that may be an even more difficult language to do that than in English.

marilynmitri

What's the point? Just to say he did?

Kevin Dale Streets

stormejohn, Of Mys and Min. Hart of Darkniss. What's so hard about that?

Edith Rookes

I enjoyed this quiz

kimlee64

Christopher J Voce. Or "She breaches."

Chris Brown

I hadn't heard of "Gadsby" or its author.

Sybilla

stormejohn, it would, indeed. "E" is the most commonly used letter in the English language.

Sybilla

A text that deliberately omits a particular letter is a 'lipogram', (from Ancient Greek: λειπογράμματος, leipográmmatos, "leaving out a letter") A brilliant French author, Georges Perec, also wrote a novel without the letter "E"—in French. Georges Perec, was writer-in-residence at the University of Queensland, Australia.