"Modiano has such a deft way of describing a place or setting a scene that his words conjure up the promise of hidden worlds."--Tobias Grey, Financial Times "[A] cascade of memories. This slim, muted, atmospheric book . displays many of Modiano's prodigious gifts."--Ruth Margalit, New York Review of Books "A nimble translation by Mark Polizzotti. Modiano masters the familiar tropes of the roman noir to build intrigue and suspense, before subverting the genre's conventions."--Marcus Hijkoop, The Telegraph "Modiano is one of France's greatest living writers. He imbues his taut, slim novels with the thrill of chasing a mystery.
"--Jeanne Bonner, Boston Globe " Ballerina is structured like memory itself, and feels true to life. [A] beautiful work of serendipity."--Frank Lawton, The Spectator "[A] slim, melancholic, and soaring novel."--Judith von Sternburg, Frankfurter Rundschau "Pithy and introspective. Modiano delivers wondrous images of the tricks memory plays, sharply translated by Polizzotti. Readers will savor this wistful narrative."-- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Evoke[s] an unmistakable atmosphere, like an Old Master drawing that captures a scene in a few faint lines. Ballerina is as much about the nameless narrator's attempt to reconstruct a period as it is about the unnamed dancer.
"--Michael Autrey, Booklist "[A] gift . rich, evocative. Set in the world of dance (and oblique existential mysteries) in 1960s Paris."--Dwyer Murphy, Literary Hub , "Most Anticipated Books of 2025" "Modiano's books . treat both memory and language as something to play around with, almost always with a tremendous payoff for anyone paying close attention."--John Wilson, Washington Examiner "[A] gift. Modiano's rich, evocative Ballerina [is] set in the world of dance (and oblique existential mysteries) in 1960s Paris."--Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads "If you've never tried Modiano, this book offers an excellent opportunity to test the waters.
"--John Wilson, First Things Praise for the French Edition: "The most ethereal, slender, and crystal-clear of Patrick Modiano's beautiful novels."--Jérôme Garcin, L'Obs "In this novel full of delicate melancholy, dance and writing finally become one."--Fabienne Lemahieu, La Croix "The memories are hazy and the charm works. Irresistibly. We would like to wander the streets of Paris endlessly with Patrick Modiano."--Marianne Payot, L'Express "A superb novel. Through the repetition of a sound, a light, the name of a character or a street, Patrick Modiano plunges us into a waking dream-state. He invites us, without saying it, to an adventure akin to mysticism.
The past no longer exists: everything, under his pen, becomes 'eternal present.'"--Julien Burri, Le Temps "A book by Modiano . you read it in a kind of incandescence. It's an event. And then, it vanishes: like a mirage. It eludes explanation, description, it's just something you feel. It's pure sensibility. Like music.
It's hard to talk about music. We stammer. He is not the author of the past. He is the author of the eternal present that we feel within us."--Christine Angot, France Inter.