[1] It is a short collection of "chapters" chronicling Reverdy's, who is the Thief of Talant, disillusionment with France and the isolation he felt as a poet in the one city where he believed poetry could flourish.

[1] As such, the novel does not have a series of concrete plot points but rather details a descent into despair and isolation where Reverdy, as the main character (the Thief of Talant) finds that his time in Paris has ultimately killed his past, more lively self.

This point of the narrative shifts drastically and the Thief describes The Other quite morbidly as lying dead under a tree, trying to come to terms with the new parts of his disconsolate self.

[3] According to Alex Davis, however, author of A History of Modernist Poetry, Reverdy's poetic narrative follows the very subject centered, anecdotal nature of the literary time period (which is an overlap of Cubism, Existentialism, and Surrealism).

One of the influences on the imagery and structure of Le Voleur de Talan is an associate Reverdy would often meet in Parisian cafes to discuss poetic form: Guillaume Apollinaire.

[7] Both individuals are considered precursors of the surrealist movement, and Reverdy in particular wrote Le Voleur de Talan as a pioneer work in creating "a pure spirit" of creative energy by manipulating poetic form.

[2] A satirical representation of Max Jacob, a friend and mentor of Reverdy, he houses the Thief of Talant but develops a mistrust for him later in the novel out of fear that he will steal his poetic work.

[9] The book was only recently republished in 2016 by Wakefield Press and has since been better received: The Three Percent and Poetry Salzburg Review both praise The Thief of Talant as a strong translation of a complex novel.