Marías is one of the best contemporary writers

Stylish, cerebral ... Marías is a startling talent

A roaring rollercoaster of a read . . . it'll take your breath away

A furious, ironic, idiosyncratic, unexpurgated torrent, capturing Italian modernity

Sorrentino uses this novel to deal with Italy's unstoppable descent into today's dazed, corrupted and tragically foolish reality...[in] exceptionally adventurous language

Remarkable... It's hard to forget Tony...his image sticks in the reader's mind...he is a true hero of our times

Make sure this novel is in your beach bag this summer

One thinks of...The Tin Drum... A bracing alternative to the staleness of formula, whether on a downscale Italian tour, wandering a Brazilian shantytown, or sinking into a Manhattan mashup of showbiz and sleaze

Beautiful prose...this is a challenging, thoughtful read, even for the die-hard heathen

Beard writes with sharp clarity; short unadorned sentences that contain an unforced, incisive wit....Lazarus's legend continues to fascinate in this totally original book

A fascinating mixture of fiction and academic essay...using biblical sources and other, less orthodox ones, Beard weaves a compelling tale portrait of first-century Israel, of Jerusalem with its factions and sects, and of Jesus, Lazarus's enigmatic friend, as he makes his journey towards the Cross

I finished the book at a sitting. What makes it so gripping is Beard's limitless curiosity.

The approach is unusual, the narrative bold and exhilarating...this book with its melding of fiction and non-fiction, critical analysis and detective work, consolidation and controversy, is a potent combination that breathes life not only into the 'imaginative representations' of historical events but also into the possibilities of what we think a novel might be able to achieve.

So good it's almost off the scale for me. Brave, brilliant and utterly readable.