"Portraying a society declining into fascism, the novel resounds with hollow laughter and is crisp throughout, but the journalistic sections feel most alive. These tableaus, which blend absurdism and poignancy, match the comic invention of classics like Michael Frayn's
Towards the End of the Morning and Evelyn Waugh's
Scoop." –
Publishers Weekly "A star is born, Weimar-style, in this German novel originally published in 1931....Tergit's novel deserves a place alongside Döblin's
Berlin Alexanderplatz, Canetti's
Auto-da-Fé, and other key works of the period." –
Kirkus "Tergit's prose is energetically rendered by Sophie Duvernoy. . .Tergit's gift for engaging dialogue enlivens the novel. But beneath the witty comedy and acute observation lies a sober reminder of the dangers brewing: references to mounting debt and widespread bankruptcy; and as the election posters go up, auctions are held and suitcases of the vulnerable stand ready." –Rebecca K. Morrison,
TLS