UK reviews
‘Prieur defines his search for Proust’s restless phantom, rendered in 72 mini essays or compressed prose poems, as an allusive and immersive quest. By seeing through Proust’s “eyes/I,” Prieur retrieves his narrator Marcel’s involuntary memories from In Search of Lost Time: the uneven paving stones from the Guermantes’ courtyard which in turn trigger the memory of uneven paving stones in the baptistery of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice, and telling traces from Marcel’s childhood bedroom at Combray. […] These allusions to Proust’s novel represent the real madeleines—creating a sense of panoramic movement of the writer’s universe—infinitely more palpable and dreamlike than their literal replicas entombed in plastic at 102 Boulevard Haussmann, thus transporting the reader back into Proust’s cyclical, loamy text.[…]Prieur’s text, while purportedly excavating Proust’s life and his literary legacy, actually celebrates the complex, alchemic collaboration, not only between the artist and key individuals in his orbit—family members, chauffeurs, cooks, housekeepers, lovers, and society personnages—but also those who either outlive him or are born years after his death, even living in farflung countries or continents.’ — Thuy Dinh, Asymptote
‘A hauntingly beautiful, astonishingly lucid and quietly witty work, one that bears witness to both the life and enduring art of Marcel Proust.' — European Literature Network
'Presented in short sections, usually between one and four pages long, and each reveals a different aspect of the author’s life or death. I found these absolutely fascinating, very revealing and often incredibly emotional. [...] As well as Proust himself, a remarkable number of other figures move through the narrative here: from André Gide to André Breton, Cocteau to Raymond Radiguet, Kafka to Verlaine to Balzac, a pantheon of creative names seems to orbit around Proust and this is one of those books which has you pondering connections as well as heading off on many tangents of exploration. A particularly poignant consideration was how Proust would have fared with modern medicine to help him with his ailments and his asthma. Would Proust have lived longer and would he had written more? We’ll never know. [...] All in all, this book was a remarkable read. At only 133 pages [...] it most certainly punches above its weight. [...] The title is in many ways an apt one [...], and this idiosyncratic, erudite exploration of Proust and his afterlife is very special. The best bookshops facilitate these random and serendipitous finds, and I suspect that Daunt Books might well be a champion at such things. A wonderful book and I’m so happy I stumbled across it!!' — Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings
‘Through meticulous research and poetic insight, Prieur delicately gathers fragments from Proust’s life and work, weaving them into a hauntingly vivid portrait of the man behind the masterpiece. Zombie Proust goes beyond biography; it’s a resurrection. With care and reverence, Prieur offers us new eyes through which to see the writer, revealing a Marcel Proust who is as deeply human as he is a literary icon.’ — Ryan McMenamin
French reviews
‘Prieur has succeeded magnificently in bringing his portrait of Proust to life’
—Le Monde
'Every page is shot through with the feeling of overwhelming, enthusiastic, affectionate gratitude that readers of In Search of Lost Time feel for Proust the writer and Proust the man.'
—Le Matricule des anges
'Scarcely any other book on Proust evades with such effortless skill the classic dilemma of whether to relate everything to the work or to the man. Prieur resurrects them both as a single phantom, in the night time favoured by Proust, perfectly conjuring up scents and tastes, with a love which owes nothing to neurosis.'
—Journal du Dimanche
“He was better than a camera…” #ZombieProust
Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings, 3 November 2025
Desire and Possession: A Review of Jérôme Prieur’s Zombie Proust
Thuy Dinh, Asymptote, 9 October 2025
‘#RivetingReviews: Tom Taylor reviews ZOMBIE PROUST by Jérôme Prieur, translated by Nancy Kline’
Tom Taylor, European Literature Network, 29 September 2025
‘Zombie Proust - The Resurrection of a Literary Enigma’
Ryan McMenamin, Ryan’s Substack, 12 July 2025