“Jean-Philippe Toussaint’s novellas astonish in how they allow us into the heads of his unexpectedly fascinating narrators […]
To read a suite of eleven essays in this vein is to see Toussaint’s style concentrated; his motives, influences, and urges clarified […]
If what matters most to Toussaint is the world within, then the two driving forces that give this collection its name, urgency and patience, become the two necessary modes for writing successfully […]
Edward […] Gauvin’s facility with both the original, crisp French and a correspondingly transparent English are in full evidence here.” —Jeffrey Zuckerman
