This is an original analysis of the novels of Gombrowicz, a fascinating figure of the 20th-century European avante-garde. Berressem examines the novels in light of both contemporary literary theory and Lacanian psychoanalysis. With its plot summaries and structural ""blueprints"" of the novels discussed - ""Ferydurke"", ""Trans-Atlantyk"", ""Pornografia"", ""Cosmos"" - this is an analysis of Gombrowicz's novelistic oeuvre and of his ambivalent relation to the avante-garde.