Mr. Valery with his idiosyncratic logic, Mr. Henri with his passion for encyclopedias, Mr. Brecht with his darkly humorous take on success, Mr. Juarroz with his original way of thinking, Mr. Calvino, the funny Mr. Calvino out for a walk, and Mr. Walser in his cabin in the woods... The intellectual and poetic wonders of Gonçalo M. Tavares are accompanied by the cheerful illustrations of Rachel Caiano. The neighborhood of the gentlemen of letters awaits its reader.

“Gonçalo M. Tavares has burst onto the Portuguese literary scene, breaking with the prevailing bonds of imaginative fiction and armed with a unique imagination. Tavares uses a very particular language with great skill, and he applies it in such a way that it is not an exaggeration to say that he is now a benchmark - I certainly do not underestimate the young novelists whose talents we are now enjoying - and that there is now a pre-Gonçalo and a post-Gonçalo in fiction. I think that's the highest tribute I can pay to him. I think in thirty years, maybe even earlier, he will win the Nobel Prize, it's a prophecy, but I think it will be true. But I regret that I won't be around to embrace him when he receives it.”

- Jose Saramago, Notebooks

“Gonçalo M. Tavares has created a wonderful, portable neighborhood. The neighborhood where Mr. Brecht and his friends live, eat and drink is a work of astonishing originality.”

- Enrique Vila-Matas, El Pais