"This volume contains almost all of Elfriede Czurda's first book (with the untranslatable title ein griff = eingriff inbegriffen) and all of her second, Fast 1 Leben. Czurda comes out of the Wiener Gruppe's experimental tradition. She is especially fond of letting repetition and permutation shift words through their whole gamut of meanings--and sometimes beyond. However, she is also not averse to thumbing her nose at any rigidities, even those of the experimental imperative. In ALMOST 1 LIFE (novella? politico-cultural satire?), the ruling avant-garde has licenced "monomania" as official language and punishes misuse by expelling the offender--into reality. Which is where Czurda positions herself. She combines exploring language with exploring the social power structures embedded in it--all with lots of fun and humor."--Publisher description.