  We perform a QCD analysis of the exclusive production of two mesons in
gamma^* gamma collisions in the kinematical domain of large photon virtuality Q
and small hadronic invariant mass W. This reaction is dominated by a scale
invariant mechanism which factorizes into a perturbative subprocess, gamma^*
gamma --> q qbar or gamma^* gamma --> g g, and a generalized two-meson
distribution amplitude. We develop in detail the phenomenology of this process
at e^+ e^- colliders. Using a simple model for the two-pion distribution
amplitude, based on its general properties, we estimate the cross section for
the kinematics accessible at BABAR, BELLE, CLEO and LEP.
