Gadsby

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Gadsby, by Ernest Vincent Wright
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
GADSBY
( A Story of Over 50,000 Words ) ( Without Using the Letter E )
By ERNEST VINCENT WRIGHT
Wetzel Publishing Co., Inc. : Los Angeles, California :
COPYRIGHT 1939 BY WETZEL PUBLISHING CO., INC.
ERNEST VINCENT WRIGHT
The entire manuscript of this story was written with the E type-bar of the typewriter tied down ; thus making it impossible for that letter to be printed. This was done so that none of that vowel might slip in, accidentally; and many did try to do so!
There is a great deal of information as to what Youth can do, if given a chance; and, though it starts out in somewhat of an impersonal vein, there is plenty of thrill, rollicking comedy, love, courtship, marriage, patriotism, sudden tragedy, a determined stand against liquor , and some amusing political aspirations in a small growing town.
In writing such a story,—purposely avoiding all words containing the vowel E, there are a great many difficulties. The greatest of these is met in the past tense of verbs, almost all of which end with —ed. Therefore substitutes must be found; and they are very few . This will cause, at times, a somewhat monotonous use of such words as said; for neither replied, answered nor asked can be used. Another difficulty comes with the elimination of the common couplet of course, and its very common connective, consequently; which will, unavoidably cause bumpy spots. The numerals also cause plenty of trouble, for none between six and thirty are available. When introducing young ladies into the story, this is a real barrier; for what young woman wants to have it known that she is over thirty? And this restriction on numbers, of course taboos all mention of dates.
Many abbreviations also must be avoided; the most common of all, Mr. and Mrs. being particularly troublesome; for those words, if read aloud, plainly indicate the E in their orthography.