In these 40 short prose texts, Blaff is depicted from at least three different angles: that of some young people (children at first), that of himself as he soliloquises, and that of his (external) author. Who is Blaff? He appears as a troubled but dauntless captive of his time, an academic outsider at loose ends, an affable bluffer, a bit of a laugh. His 20th century antecedents are Robert Walser's Helbling, Henri Michaux's Plume, Albert Ehrenstein's Tubutsch, Raymond Linossier's Bibi La Bibiste, Brecht's Herr Keuner, even Paul Valery's Monsieur Teste...