"In <i>Disturbance</i> — a literary sensation in France when it was published last year — the critic documents, in excruciating details, his physical and emotional reconstruction to understand the man he has become.... Lançon’s memoir, subtly translated by Steven Rendall, gives an uneasy feeling of voyeurism at times, such as when he depicts his surroundings once silence fell on the murder scene — the open skull of his friend lying nearby; the discovery of his own injuries; shreds of flesh in place of his lower jaw. And yet, amid the horrific images, literature arises. It is a process that leaves the reader shaken and is one that Lançon admits he himself fails to grasp."

The Financial Times

“[<i>Disturbance</i>] is a fascinating and often sobering read, one that offers insight into human fragility as well as resilience.”

World Literature Today

<p>Lançon's reaction has been to write a series of columns of power and grace. With a kind of detached, chilled compassion he has detailed the long, agonising rebuilding of a face and a life: the sequence of operations; his first confident speech; the first time he recognised himself in the mirror; his first shave. <br /><br />Lançon writes brilliantly about the nurses, the doctors and the policemen who now protect him. It is astonishing writing. Bleak yet warm and triumphantly human.</p>

- Robert McLiam Wilson, The Irish Times