[1] It is about a man in his 60s who battles with guilt and exhaustion after the death of his father, with whom he had a complicated and dysfunctional relationship.

The critic called it "a bravura performance" with "wickedly funny lucidity", writing that its best moments are "uncommonly uncomfortable".

[2] Time called the book tiresome, with no artistic reason for its long sentences, and wrote that many readers can be expected to put it away after fewer than 100 pages.

The critic wrote that it reminds readers why the influence of Sigmund Freud "sure is bad for writing".

[3] The book is the basis for the 1990 film Dark Illness directed by Mario Monicelli.