This delirious, delightful labyrinth of alphabetically-arranged, mock-encyclopedia entries immediately establishes Federman: A to X-X-X as the definitive study of one of the most original Holocaust authors, as well as one of contemporary literature's most radical thinkers and influential authors and critics. Just as significant is the way in which these disparate entries--which include generous selections of Federman's fiction, poetry, criticism, correspondence, and journal entries, dozens of photographs and documents, critical commentary, as well as a wide variety of other "recycled" texts--offer even readers wholly unfamiliar with Federman a revealing glimpse into the ways that postmodernist notions concerning authority (and "authorship"), originality, meaning, appropriation, and collaboration have impacted actual writing processes.

This book contains the "collected plays" of postmodern contemporary U.S. author Raymond Federman in a bilingual edition (English and German). Featured are a long drama, "The Precipice," and three shorter "plays" that defy rigid genre boundaries (poem, television play, radio play?).

The PRECIPICE: 1. A precipitate or headlong fall or descent, esp. to a great depth. Also fig. Obs. 2. A vertical or very steep face of rock, etc.; a cliff, crag, or steep mountain side of considerable height. [...] b. The edge or brink of a cliff. Obs. [...] c. fig. A perilous situation; a hazardous position. 3. transf. (?) Precipitousness, loftiness as of a precipice. Obs. 4. Comb., as precipice-edge, -wall; precipice-writing.