Considered his masterwork by many of his readers and some critics, Empty talk, is the story of a writer who spends his time observing his own calligraphy in search of answers about his identity. In the midst of a family crisis, fighting with his runaway wife, a dog with a yearning for freedom and a child who constantly interrupts his sacred concentration, the writer survives by grasping onto what he considers a maxim of calligraphy: “beautiful script, beautiful me”.

These sinuous lines give him answers about the meaning of writing, about the anxieties of creative writing and particularly about the always magical relationship of writing with life.

A lighthearted wisdom beats in every sentence of Empty Words, a little masterpiece by Mario Levrero, who is, to me, one of the funniest and most  influential writers of recent times. This book might change your life, or at least your handwriting.  Alejandro Zambra

An essential book, a cult work. Rodolfo Fogwill

Levrero’s autobiographical style is an extract of humor, where the Uruguayan writer rebuilds himself in a formidable praise of the sentence. Didier Jacob, L’Obs Magazine

Each of his books is better than the one before. Damián Tabarovsky, El País

In summary, daily life, seen through the magnifying glass of Levrero’s pen, grows, digs and deepens… to the point that the funny and tragic adventures of a dog take us to a scene full of romanticism… Damien Aubel, Transfuge Magazine 

As a calling card for Levrero’s talent, it’s certainly enticing. Anthony Cummins, The Guardian

An eccentric, funny, and original novel: philosophical but playful, short but obsessive, ironic but desperate, and theoretical but intímate. Dana Spiotta

He separates himself from the form to address the essential, the eternity. Christian Roinat

Of all [Levrero’s] works, Empty Words, for its lucidity, boldness, absurdity, and irresistible humor, not to mention its strategic value in relation to the rest of his oeuvre. It is the best means of accessing this singular author, who continues to gain followers and whose reputation has long since outgrown the niche reserved for cult authors. Ignacio Echevarría

Empty Words‘ is redemptive, enlarging, poignant and humane. Matthew Adams, The National

Empty Words looks like a novel about handwriting, but really it’s a book about the self. It shows the fragile, magical work that can be done by the novel as a form, the networks of meaning that are activated whenever fragments are collected in a collage. Empty Words triumphs in a way that represents the ultimate and total defeat of its narrator. It becomes literature. Adam Thirlwell, London Review of Books

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