One can imagine that if Garp had described his world without Irving's assistance, he would have done it with the same cautious curiosity and the same discreet elegance. An absolute must-read.
–- L'Événement du jeudi
. . . [T]his is what gives the book all its charm–-to denounce stupidity and brutality, Olivier Targowla deploys a delicate irony and confers life and speech on this tightrope-walking character. A bit of the marionette, a bit of the imp, who could plausibly have sprung from a story by Robert Walser or from Ivan Goncharov's novel, Oblomov.
–- Art Press
. . . [T]his fluid little narrative instills in the reader a sense of strangeness that gives it its value.
–- Le Monde
Strange tale of rehabilitation, a tightrope-walking exercise, a pleasing yet painful return to life.
–- Libération
Olivier Targowla had to keep his balance perfectly. His first novel is better than promising, it is deeply mischievous and nonetheless serious, well-constructed, well-written . . . Targowla has successfully brought off a bittersweet fable. He has created a character with a real existence, a slightly loopy fellow who in the end is not nearly as ill as a good many outwardly healthy people.
–- Dernières nouvelles d'Alsace
