writing that is simultaneously sense and nonsense, verbal and visual, self-contained and serial -- that demands to be read at the same time as it ought to be viewed -- nearly reaches its zenith in later work such as E clips E (1989). In particular, "surveys" is writing only in the most technical sense with its Jackson Pollock-like paint drippings and scattered individual letters, all counter-balanced by neat, hand-drawn frames. Just as Riddell's compositions challenge how writers and readers form meaning, the original publications of many of the selections in Writing Surfaces , and Riddell's larger oeuvre , were also physically constructed in a way that would demand reader participation. Riddell's original publications include small press leaflets ( Pope Leo, El ELoPE: A Tragedy in Four Letters ), business card-sized broadsides ("spring"), chapbooks ( A Hole in the Head and Traces ) and pamphlets ( How to Grow Your Own Light Bulbs ). His work also extends into books as non-books: posters which double as dart boards (1987's d'Art Board ), novels arranged as packages of cigarettes (1996's Smokes: a novel mystery ) and decks of cards to be shuffled, played and processually read (1981's War (Words at Roar), Vol.1: s/word/s games and others). Inside books with otherwise traditional appearances Riddell insists that his readers reject passive reception of writing in favour of a more active role. While outside of the purview of Writing Surfaces , 1996's How to Grow Your Own Light Bulbs includes texts that must be excised