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The Man Who
Walked through Walls
mArceL Aymé
Translated from the French by sophie Lewis
The excellent Monsieur Dutilleul has always
been able to pass through walls, but has never
seen the point of using his gift, given the general
availability of doors. One day, however, his
tyrannical boss drives him to desperate, creative
measures—he develops a taste for transmural
travel and becomes something of a supervillain.
How will the unassuming clerk adjust to
a glamorous life of crime?
Aymé’s genius lies in imagining the practical
unfolding of bizarre and difficult situations.
In each story, anarchic comedy is arrested
by moments of pathos, only to descend into
anarchy and hilarity once more …
Publication: 28th June 2012
ISBN 9781906548643 • 300pp • £12
Marcel Aymé (1902-67) was one of the great French writers of the twentieth century.
Born in the Franche-Comté of Eastern France, he never lost touch with his rural origins, which
influenced much of his work. Initially perceived as a man of the left, throughout his life Aymé espoused
causes from across the political spectrum, for example apparently supporting Mussolini’s
colonialism in Africa whilst also campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty. He attracted
much controversy for his writings for collaborationist magazines during the Second World War,
and his defence of Nazi-sympathising friends including Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Robert
Brasillach in the post-war years. Nevertheless Aymé has remained hugely popular in France
– this collection is particularly famous, and a dozen of his novels have been turned into films,
among them the classics of French cinema La Traversée de Paris, La Vouivre and Uranus.