The Table That Ran Away to the Woods

The Table That Ran Away to the Woods tells the story of a writing desk that one day "grabbed two pairs of shoes / ran downstairs, and took flight," escaping into the countryside with its owners in barefoot pursuit. This is the first time the tale--first published in a Polish newspaper in 1940 and re-created in this exquisite collaged version in 1963--has been made available to an English-speaking audience.

Praise for The Table that Ran Away to the Woods
"The story, an afterword explains, ties into the Themersons' avantgarde filmmaking, writing, and artwork in the 1930s (an early version appeared in an expatriate newspaper published in Paris). Readers needn't be familiar with the backstory to appreciate the collage-like images of the table scampering over hills and reclaiming its existence."
--Publishers Weekly

Stefan and Franciszka Themerson were Polish avant-garde artists and filmmakers who in the 1940s fled to London, where they worked on a huge range of creative projects. In 1948, they founded the influential Gaberbochus Press, publishers of Kurt Schwitters, Jankel Adler, and Alfred Jarry, among others.