The first story "The Wall" is set during the Spanish Civil War with Pablo, one of the prisoners, being the protagonist. The story is one about the absurdity of life - how Pablo coincidentally and accidentally causes one of his comrades to be caught even though Pablo was not aware of it at all. The second story "The Room" is much more spookier and the stereotypical bourgeois values are criticised with a woman who chooses to share the absurd world of her psychopathic husband. The best of the lot is undeniably Erostratus whereby the protagonist again rejects the accepted values of society and decides to go against society by randomly shooting people on the street. There is an autobiographical element in this book too as the main character is very much portrayed as Sartre.

Overall, the book is well worth reading especially since it isn't such a long book. Certainly, one of Sartre's best "unknown" works.