What books have been written without specific letters, vowels, etc.?

Additional material

[ Editor: from a 1994 thread on palindromic novels; the text below was
written for a book on pranks at MIT. ]

GADSBY
        A Story of Over 50,000 Words
        Without Using the Letter "E"
        by Ernest Vincent Wright

Written by an alumnus of the class of 1889, this unusual 50,110 word
novel was finished in 1936 and published in 1939.  The book tells of
John Gadsby and the Youth of Branton Hills and how they worked to
transform a small stagnant agricultural town into a healthy community
with a multitude of cultural, social, and technical resources.  Wright's
introduction to the book describes how this literary novelty was
created:

The entire manuscript of this story was written with the E type-bar of
the typewriter tied down; thus making it impossible for that letter to
be printed.  This was done so that none of that vowel might slip in,
accidentally; and many did try to do so! ...
In writing such a story,-purposely avoiding all words containing the
vowel E, there are a great many difficulties.  The greatest of these is
met in the past tense of verbs, almost all of which end with "-ed."
Therefore substitutes must be found; and they are very few.  This will
cause, at times, a somewhat monotonous use of such words as "said;" for
neither "replied," "answered" nor "asked" can be used.  Another
difficulty comes with the elimination of the common couplet "of
course," and its very common connective, "consequently;" which will,
unavoidably cause "bumpy spots." The numerals also cause plenty of
trouble, for none between six and thirty are available.  When
introducing young ladies into the story, this is a real barrier; for
what young woman wants to have it known that she is over thirty? And
this restriction on numbers, of course taboos all mention of dates.
Many abbreviations also must be avoided; the most common of all, "Mr."
and "Mrs." being particularly troublesome; for those words, if read
aloud, plainly indicate the E in their orthography.
As the letter E is used more than five times oftener than any other
letter, this story was written, not through any attempt to attain
literary merit, but due to a somewhat balky nature, caused by hearing it
so constantly claimed that "it can't be done; for you cannot say
anything at all without using E, and make a smooth continuity, with
perfectly grammatical construction-" so 'twas said. . . .
Pronouns also caused trouble; for such words as he, she, they, them,
theirs, her, herself, myself, himself, yourself, etc., could not be
utilized.  But a particularly annoying obstacle comes when, almost
through a long paragraph you find no words with which to continue that
line of thought; hence, as in Solitaire, you are "stuck," and must go
way back and start another; which, of course, must perfectly fit the
preceding context.
. . . The story required five and a half months of concentrated
endeavor, with so many erasures and retrenchments that I tremble as I
think of them.  Of course anybody can write such a story.  All that is
needed is a piece of string tied from the E type-bar down to some part
of the base of the typewriter.  Then simply go ahead and type your
story.  Incidentally, you should have some sort of a bromide
preparation handy, for use when the going gets rough, as it most
assuredly will!
. . . I have even ordered the printer not to head each chapter with the
words "Chapter 2," etc., on account of that bothersome E in that word.

Some excerpts from the story:

III

Youth cannot stay for long in a condition of inactivity; and so, for
only about a month did things so stand, until a particularly bright
girl in our Organization, thought out a plan for caring for infants of
folks who had to go out, to work; and this bright kid soon had a group
of girls who would join, during vacation, in voluntarily giving up four
days a month to such work.  With about fifty girls collaborating, all
districts had this most gracious aid; and a girl would not only watch
and guard, but would also instruct, as far as practical, any such tot
as had not had its first schooling.  Such Work by young girls still in
school was a grand thing; and Gadsby not only stood up for such
loyalty, but got at his boys to find a similar plan; and soon had a
full troop of Boy Scouts; uniforms and all.   This automatically brought
about a Girl Scout unit; and, through a collaboration of both, a form of
club sprang up.  It was a club in which any boy or girl of a family
owning a car would call mornings for pupils having no cars, during
school days, for a trip to school and back.  This was not only a saving
in long walks for many, but also took from a young back, that hard,
tiring strain from lugging such armfuls of books as you find pupils
laboriously carrying today.  Upon arriving at a school building, many
cars would unload so many books that Gadsby said:-
"You would think that a Public Library branch was moving in!" This car
work soon brought up a thought of giving similar aid to ailing adults;
who, not owning a car, could not know of that vast display of hill and
plain so common to a majority of our townsfolks.  So a plan was laid,
by which a car would call two days a month; and for an hour or so,
follow roads winding out of town and through woods, farm lands and
suburbs; showing distant ponds, and that grand arch of sky which
"shut-ins" know only from photographs.   Ah; how that plan did stir up
joyous anticipation amongst such as thus had an opportunity to call
upon old, loving pals, and talk of old customs and past days!

VII

Now that a zoo was actually on its way, Gadsby had to call in various
groups to talk about what a Zoo should contain.  Now you know that all
animals can't find room in this orthographically odd story; so if you
visit Lucy zoo, you'll miss a customary inhabitant, or two.  But you'll
find an array worthy of your trip.  So a call was put in two big daily
journals, asking for bids on animals and birds; and soon, from north,
south and crisscross points, a hunting party or a city with too many zoo
animals on hand got in touch with Branton Hills, with proposals for all
kinds of animals, from kangaroos to bats; and our Organization had a
lot of fun planning how many it could crowd into City Park, without
crowding out visitors.  Finally a ballot put Lucy's zoological
population as follows:-
First, according to Lucy, "an awfully, AWFULLY big hippopotamus, with a
pool for its comfort;" a yak, caribou, walrus, (also with a pool,) a
long fox-run, bisons, gnus, stags, (it was a stag, you know, that got
this zoo plan going!), alligators, mountain lions, African lions, wild
cats, wild boars, llamas, gorillas, baboons, orang-outangs, mandrils;
and, according to Gadsby's boys, a "big gang" of that amusing, tiny
mimic always found accompanying hand-organs.  Also an aviary,
containing condors, buzzards, parrots, ibis, macaws, adjutant birds,
storks, owls, quail, falcons, tiny humming birds, a sprinkling of hawks,
mocking birds, swans, fancy ducks, toucans; and . . . All in all it
would furnish a mighty amusing and popular spot which would draw lots
of out of town visitors. . .

-- Brian "Now I have all these extra e's in my computer" Leibowitz
   <bml@netcom.com>