<P>First published in France in 1985, <i>The Bathroom</i> was Jean-Philippe Toussaint's debut novel, and it heralded a new generation of innovative French literature. In this playful and perplexing book, we meet a young Parisian researcher who lives inside his bathroom. As he sits in his tub meditating on existence (and refusing to tell us his name), the people around him -his girlfriend, Edmondsson, the Polish painters in his kitchen-- each in their own way further enables his peculiar lifestyle, supporting his eccentric quest for immobility. But an invitation to the Austrian embassy shakes up his stable world, prompting him to take a risk and leave his bathroom . . .</P><P>"An original and significant writer, whose fiction can be as engaging as it is surprising." —<i>The Times Literary Supplement</i></P><P>"Toussaint is a genuinely funny writer . . . small erotic moments are captured perfectly . . . makes me long for more by Toussaint." —<i>Kirkus Review</i></P><P>"The combination of the absurd and the conscious intellect recalls such other French-language writers as Raymond Queneau in a style that is elegant, erudite, and joyously superficial. "—<i>Publishers Weekly</i></P>