Passes of arms with speckled foil, rants, punches, games of seduction, lively emotions… Directly helping, there are many moments that have contributed to shaping the legend of the literary high mass of Friday evening, “Apostrophes” . The most famous of them undoubtedly remains, in 1978, the one which saw Charles Bukowski, drunk, staggering off the set, supported by his editor, to the great relief of the host and the guests. After disrupting François Cavanna’s interview – irritated, he let out a resounding “Bukowski, shut up, you’re annoying us” – he slipped his hand on the thigh of the author Catherine Paysan.
Without seeking controversy, as he defended himself, Bernard Pivot often took pleasure in bringing together authors who hardly liked each other, or were even at opposite ends of the political spectrum. Which provided some memorable skirmishes. We think of Jean d’Ormesson treating Roger Peyrefitte as “a lady who thinks she is Saint-Simon”; to Serge Gainsbourg, confronted with the “badger” Guy Béart, who refused to admit that “song is a minor art”; to Morgan Sportès exhausting Marc-Edouard Nabe’s pamphlet Au repas des vermins (Barrault, 1985), “insane with bullshit”. Before leaving the show, Georges-Marc Benamou, angered by Nabe’s provocations, came to hit him.
More than a blow, Simon Leys’s virulent criticism of Maria Antonietta Macciocchi’s essay on China – “a swindle” – will deal him a fatal blow. A few days after the sinologist’s attacks, due to lack of sales, the publisher ceased its distribution.
Successful one-on-ones
Among all the shows, there is one in particular that Bernard Pivot will admit to being the least proud of. This is the one where he invited Jane Fonda, in 1985. Literally falling in love with the American actress, the host practically forgot to question the other guests. Later, he confessed to having come close to professional misconduct that evening. In the department of seduction parades, we also remember the exchange between Claude Hagège and Raymond Devos described by the linguist as “the prince of the absurd”. And above all, on the theme of love, the delicious exchange between Roland Barthes and Françoise Sagan, under the gaze of Anne Golon, the author of the literary series Angélique, Marquise des anges.
Aside from the outbursts or the settling of scores, the greatest moments of “Apostrophes” undoubtedly remain the tête-à-têtes that the journalist made. We think in particular of the one with Marguerite Duras, during which the host had to tame the novelist’s silences; to those with Claude Lévi-Strauss or Vladimir Jankélévitch, among those who intimidated him. To the journalistic “coups” carried out with Alexander Solzhenitsyn in 1974 then in 1975 in the United States, the cancellation of which the Russian embassy requested from the head of Antenne 2. Or even the face-to-face with the extremely rare Vladimir Nabokov, who put two conditions: knowing the questions in advance and having a teapot filled with… whisky.
