After Marlène Schiappa in Playboy, the erotic writings of Bruno Le Maire. Arousing ridicule on social networks, the new novel by the Minister of Finance once again forces the government to explain its image and its communication.
Present in the media to comment on the political and social crisis in the midst of a unitary May 1 protest against the pension reform, the leaders of the majority did not escape questions on the rawest page of the latest opus of the writer minister.
“It shows that behind the costumes of ministers, we are sometimes criticized for it, there are feelings”, replied on BFMTV and RMC the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt, a little embarrassed. He conceded that he had not read the book, only the erotic passage which “made him smile”.
“American Fugue”, the latest novel by Bruno le Maire (published by Gallimard) was released in bookstores last Thursday. It is dedicated to the pianist Vladimir Horowitz, through the story of two brothers, Franz and Oskar Wertheimer, who travel to Cuba to attend one of his concerts and whose lives are turned upside down.
But it is one page of this book that caught the eye, the one where one of the novel’s protagonists describes extreme sexual arousal in the most explicit terms. These lines made the rounds on social media, prompting an abundance of sarcasm and mockery.
And they have revived political questioning. Isn’t the government out of step with the mood of the country, plunged into the pension crisis, marked by new demonstrations on Monday on the occasion of May Day?
-Between Fitch and inflation-
“It would take a new Alfred Jarry to write Ubu king, he could also write Ubu à Bercy” to describe the last episodes concerning Bruno Le Maire, ironically on Sunday the deputy La France insoumise (LFI) François Ruffin, in reference to the writer burlesque and absurd.
For him, the Minister of Finance should not have “a minute, an hour, a week of his time to devote to writing a book” when the French are experiencing “big worries about inflation”.
Coincidentally, the publication of Bruno Le Maire’s book coincided within a few hours with the announcement of the downgrading of France’s financial rating by the American agency Fitch.
The rebellious elected drew the parallel with the controversy resulting from the recent interview of the Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy Marlène Schiappa, granted to Playboy magazine. “It looks alike,” he noted.
The appearance of the minister on the front page of the charming magazine, with supporting photos, had displeased Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne who had called her to order.
It risked giving the impression of a dispersed government in its communication.
Added to this was the destabilizing effect of an interview given at the end of March by President Emmanuel Macron to the newspaper Pif.
Author of 13 books, including five in the last four years, Bruno Le Maire claims this double career, political and literary.
“If there were only politics without the freedom that literary and romantic creation gives, politics would not be enough,” he explained last week in an interview with AFP.
“He organizes his time as he wants,” said Modem boss François Bayrou on LCI, recalling that he too had written books while he held ministerial office. The centrist leader did not say if he would read “American Fugue” and was careful not to comment on the literary quality of the work.
On his Instagram account, the writer Nicolas Mathieu, Prix Goncourt 2018, sees “a little excess” in the criticism of the erotic passage of the novel. “What piece of this nature wouldn’t seem ridiculous taken out of context, in isolation?”. But “little stylistic exercise”, he also enjoys proposing a rewrite.
05/01/2023 16:47:39 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
