“The French Novel” is an autobiographical book. It is based on a real story from the life of the author: for using cocaine in a public place, Frederick Beigbeder, by that time already a famous writer, was detained by the police and taken to prison. Finding himself in a dirty, cramped cell, he becomes desperate. And suddenly, emerging from the depths of his memory, memories of childhood and youth appear before him, the gloomy walls seem to move apart and disappear for a while, and in their place, one after another, pictures of the past appear, episodes from the history of his family. “The French Novel” caused a heated discussion in press. The undoubted literary merits of this work were awarded the prestigious Renaudo Prize for 2009.