Praise for Standing Heavy

"This shrewd, episodic novel stars the security guards of Paris ... undocumented Ivoirian immigrants whose watchful eyes examine Parisian turmoil over two generations."
--New York Times

"This book is about the anti-flâneurs: not the rich white men who roam the boulevards of Paris but poorly paid Black men whose jobs require them to stand still. As a security guard, the protagonist of Standing Heavy is invisible but sees everything. Told in a fragmentary style--as if from different camera angles--this is the story of colonialism and consumerism, of the specifics of power, and of the hope of the sixties diminishing as society turns cynical and corrupt."
--International Booker Prize Judges' citation

"A spry volume of 167 pages ... that manages to trade heavily in politics while also sneaking up on your sympathy. I won't spoil the end, but it startled me in its poignancy."
--The Walrus

"Tightly written and tautly structured, Standing Heavy has a considerable heft to it ... There have been countless novels written about class and immigration over the years, but what GauZ' has done here is truly singular."
--Tobias Carroll, Words Without Borders

"Inventive and very funny."
--John Self, The Guardian

"This compact, humane satire, deftly translated by Frank Wynne, entertains as much as it informs."
--Lucy Popescu, Financial Times

"A cunning observer and a disenchanted protestor, Gauz' makes shopping an ethnological mine, a priceless sketch and a combat sport."
--Elle

"An incisive ... meaningful document chronicling the humanity of undocumented workers."
--Kirkus Reviews

"This combines some of my favorite things, a solid one-sit-read, an elegant translation, and an author willing to play with form ... A book I felt satisfied after reading once and yet left me ready to dig in again."
--Publisher's Weekly

"Gauz casts a tender, yet lucid gaze on the African community. By devoting a book to the shadowy men of security, Gauz finally gives voice and life to those who, oddly enough, are invisible."
--Le Matricule des Anges

"A funny and poignant intergenerational tale of three Ivoirian men newly arrived in Paris. And a sharp social and political commentary, delivered via the sharp eyes of the black security guards that white Paris relies on to keep itself safe."
--Tiffany Tsao, author of The Majesties