Bellanger described his purpose with the book: "I have written a book that tells how a heresy of the Socialist Party, the Printemps républicain, surrounded by a small group of mediocre intellectuals, made the victory of the far right possible in France." More generally, he says he wanted to use satire to investigate how the
antiracist left has decayed. The main character Grémond corresponds to
Laurent Bouvet, founder of the
Printemps républicain. The philosophers Taillevent and Frayère are based on
Raphaël Enthoven and
Michel Onfray, respectively. Other real people portrayed include
Caroline Fourest, as Véronique Bourny, and
Emmanuel Macron, as "" ().
Manuel Valls appears under his real name. ==Reception==