SOURCE: "George Perec. Things: A Story of the Sixties/A Man Asleep," in Review of Contemporary Fiction, Vol. 11, No. 2, Summer 1994, pp. 233-34.

In the following review, Pekar summarizes the plots of Things and A Man Asleep. He is particularly impressed by Perec's descriptions of the sleeping state.

In looking over Perec's longer literary projects it's amazing how little each of them has in common with the others. Things, previously issued by Grove Press in a different translation as Les choses, is almost a sociological study centering on a deliberately gentricized, dilettante Parisian couple, Jerome and Sylvie, their constant search for consumer goods and quest to avoid dull, routine duties. They work at market research jobs during a boom in the 1960s, interviewing people about things they buy. Market research positions are not too secure, which our couple realizes; nevertheless they don't want to commit to more drudgery and...