During three seasons on the show Bonsoir bonoir!, the author of The Beast delivered performances on stage on all kinds of themes, drawing on his experience as a slammer. This collection brings together his 15 texts adapted and accompanied by his thoughts on the subject. “A challenge in itself,” notes David Goudreault in the introduction to the book, explaining that he does not write in the same way to be read as to be listened to. Nevertheless, his texts now have the right to a second life.
“This is the judgment of a French novelist on his office colleagues,” writes Frédéric Beigbeder in presentation of this love dictionary. And a way to compete with Wikipedia, he adds with humor. In all, 281 writers are listed, from Constance Debré to Mathias Énard, including Jonathan Littell, Édouard Louis and Jean-Christophe Grangé. “An unfair inventory, because it is resolutely subjective,” according to the author (and literary critic), who was nevertheless based on precise criteria, such as the fact that the writers chosen are still alive and publish in French. A work that will interest all serious readers, to the point of making you want to (re)read authors that we perhaps no longer thought of.
Nobel Prize for Literature and Goncourt Prize, author of around thirty novels, the French writer Patrick Modiano no longer needs any introduction. Here he tells the daily life of a dancer in a Parisian dance school and her young son, whom the narrator takes care of – memories that he revisits almost 50 years later.
The French best-selling author returns with a new novel tinged with humor. Its heroine, Amandine, receives a letter that will change her perspective on life and force her to take control of her destiny. A reading which, from the first pages, succeeds in providing this feeling of being in good company.
Ragnar Jónasson is one of the most widely read Icelandic crime writers, and he wrote this novel jointly with none other than the Prime Minister of Iceland. A captivating enigma as he knows how to construct so well, around the never-solved disappearance of a young girl.
The author of À l’abri de rien and Dessous les roses recently published his first collection of poetry; but he also wrote novels for young adults – and this new title is his fourth. It’s the kind of story that’s moving and unforgettable when you’re a teenager, about the awakening of the senses, love and death, between surfing sessions and fiery parties, over the course of a summer.
