A mysterious French author has produced what he claims is the first book written without a single verb.

Michel Thaler's 233-page work, Le Train de Nulle Part (The Train from Nowhere), contains lengthy passages of flowery prose, but not a lot of action.

It is set on a train and features a series of caustic cameos of fellow passengers who, while not doing much, manage to bring out the poison in Thaler's pen.