Not sure what I love more, Robert Walser (the RW of the title), Cole Swenson, or Omnidawn Press, who put out incredible translations. It might turn out that Jean Frémon tops them all.

So, o.k., at the moment, RW is more or less alone in the world, but it hasn't always been like this. There was a time, he remembers, when the girls would crowd around him. He was young then, sure, and wore a proper suit and tie. What they loved in me was my reserve, he says to himself, thinking back on that time. My reserve, that's my secret weapon, he thinks; above all, don't ever give it up.

—Jean Frémon, trans. Cole Swenson