In the spa town of Marienbad in the summer of 1823, the 73-year-old writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is infatuated with the 19-year-old Ulrike von Levetzow.

Felicitas von Lovenberg of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung calls A Man in Love Walser's "most tender, inexorable and conciliatory" novel.

[1] Andreas Merkel of Der Spiegel says its greatest strength is its narrative tone, which allows Walser to have Goethe ponder about his genitals in front of a mirror as well as quote the "Marienbad Elegy" in full, and make it work as an organic whole.

[2] Joachim Kaiser of the Süddeutsche Zeitung said Walser's choice to portray the final defeat in Goethe's love life is in line with his general preference to portray losers.

[3] Benjamin Markovits of The New York Times says Goethe comes off as "more complex than sympathetic", with exaggerated feelings but real pain.