# Is "Life: A User's Manual" by Georges Perec a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Life: A User's Manual by Georges Perec (Hachette, 1978) is identified by: The true first is La Vie mode d'emploi, Hachette, Paris, 1978, in the collection edited by Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens (P.O.L); listings cite the publisher variously as 'Hachette', 'Hachette/P.O.L' or 'P.O.L', all describing the same 1978 Paris issue. The French original (Hachette / collection P.O.L, Paris, 1978) is the true first, and the census is correct on the imprint.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is La Vie mode d'emploi, Hachette, Paris, 1978, in the collection edited by Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens (P.O.L); listings cite the publisher variously as 'Hachette', 'Hachette/P.O.L' or 'P.O.L', all describing the same 1978 Paris issue
- The governing point is the achevé d'imprimer: the first printing on ordinary paper carries the date 25 August 1978, and dealers specify 'le bon achevé d'imprimer' of 25 August 1978 to separate it from later printings dated 10 October 1978 and after
- Collation is one volume of 699 pages, broché (wrappers), roughly 14 x 20.5 cm; the book was published in September 1978 and took the Prix Médicis in November 1978
- A copy whose achevé d'imprimer reads October 1978 or later is a subsequent printing regardless of the 1978 date on the title page — this is the single check that matters for this title
- Publisher imprint reads Hachette
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Georges Perec |
| Publisher | Hachette |
| Year | 1978 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is La Vie mode d'emploi, Hachette, Paris, 1978, in the collection edited by Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens (P.O.L); listings cite… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is La Vie mode d'emploi, Hachette, Paris, 1978, in the collection edited by Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens (P.O.L); listings cite the publisher variously as 'Hachette', 'Hachette/P.O.L' or 'P.O.L', all describing the same 1978 Paris issue. The governing point is the achevé d'imprimer: the first printing on ordinary paper carries the date 25 August 1978, and dealers specify 'le bon achevé d'imprimer' of 25 August 1978 to separate it from later printings dated 10 October 1978 and after. Collation is one volume of 699 pages, broché (wrappers), roughly 14 x 20.5 cm; the book was published in September 1978 and took the Prix Médicis in November 1978. A copy whose achevé d'imprimer reads October 1978 or later is a subsequent printing regardless of the 1978 date on the title page — this is the single check that matters for this title.

## Is this the true first?
The French original (Hachette / collection P.O.L, Paris, 1978) is the true first, and the census is correct on the imprint. Watch a pre-publication trap the census does not mention: Hachette/P.O.L issued a 32-page stapled excerpt in printed wrappers — 'Chambres de bonne, 10', drawn from chapter 55 — dated 2 May 1978, ahead of the September book. It is an advance excerpt, not the first edition, yet the 2 May 1978 date attached to it circulates in catalogue data as though it were the novel's publication date. The first English edition is David Bellos's translation, published in 1987 by David R. Godine (Boston) and by Collins Harvill (London) in the same year. The census claim that the US 'generally precedes' is NOT confirmed: both are 1987 and no source consulted established the order. Both English issues are collected.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club issue is documented for the 1978 French first. Dealer cataloguing records a small hors-commerce printing on vergé blanc d'Arches outside the ordinary printing, but the copy count was not corroborated across sources; the ordinary-paper first printing remains defined by the 25 August 1978 achevé d'imprimer. Later French printings (10 October 1978 onward), the Harvill Panther paperback, and the Godine reissues are reprints — in English the 1987 sheets are the ones to seek.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Life: A User's Manual* by Georges Perec a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/life-a-users-manual
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.