Êtes-vous fous?

The novel opens in a disorienting city where reality flickers between the ordinary and the absurd. A bewildered man, unable to make sense of people or events, rushes to a fortune‑teller who predicts a marriage that will bring forth a blue‑skinned child—only for that child to die and be replaced by a litter of multicolored infants. Along the bustling streets he encounters a parade of eccentric figures: a half‑worldly Yolande, the flamboyant Mimi Patata of the Folies‑Bergère, and a mysterious “bird‑flame” that seems to hover between symbolism and menace.

As the man drags the strange bird into a towering sanatorium, the city itself becomes a character, its streets humming with whispered curses and the clatter of gramophones. The narrative swirls through vivid tableaux of street vendors, whispered conspiracies, and surreal ceremonies, hinting at a deeper struggle between desire, destiny, and a society teetering on the edge of madness.