The Oulipo and Modern Thought provides a readable, but rigorous and non-partisan account of some of the group’s intellectual concerns. It mixes literary criticism–close readings and analyses of some of the work published by the group and its members–with archival research that shines a light on the discussions at the group’s early meetings. In doing so, the book highlights the diversity of the Oulipo, as well as the fact that the group has never existed in a vacuum, but was always a witty, often combative voice within its intellectual milieu of writers, academics, psychoanalysts, and others.