Simon Perse is a bitter man. He has just left his wife and children to live alone in a tiny apartment. Perse has never slept much, and, following the advice of his psychoanalyst, with whom he has a complicated relationship, he decides to use this talent of his to give up sleeping entirely. The first few days, he feels euphoric and all-powerful. But gradually, starting from details, a sentence overheard… he begins to suffer hallucinations. In each one, Perse finds himself in an unknown world, at a different historical era. In these fluctuating worlds, there are just two constants: a woman, always the same one, but who goes by a different name, that he falls in love with; and a rival who systematically ends the hallucination by inflicting violent death upon him. A death that suddenly brings Perse back to real life. Aside from that unpleasantness, everything would be fine for a man who lives two days in every 24-hour period. Things get more complicated when a doctor informs Perse that he has a fatal neurological disorder and has only a month to live… and the woman who has been haunting him suddenly shows up in the real world…

Mid-life crisis, love story, suspense… this novel by Philippe Ségur offers a humorous and lucid portrait of our society. Refreshing!