Novels aren"t always about people; Here is a story of loaded words and fickle phrases, a manual of the vortex of thought that language precipitates in the brilliant mind of 96-year-old French novelist Nathalie Sarraute. Nicole Meyer says "To read Sarraute it is necessary to position yourself differently," and it"s a genuine pleasure to attempt her unusual perspective. Reminiscent of the writing of Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Sarraute uses ellipses as a force that moves language and thought, though gently, as the eddies of a stream. For example, she muses over the words "I want to be a writer," and as with all language, finds that a flood of meaning, betrayal, and possibilities swirls between speaker and listener. You will never again view a phrase as being simply words.