French Literature Reviews - 2026
A. François, Bouquiner. Autobiobibliographie (reprint)
Writers: Biography, Letters and Memoirs
Bouquiner. Autobiobibliographie
Annie François
Published: 04/11/2002
Publisher: Seuil
Series: Points
ISBN: 2-02-056477-7
EAN: 9782020564779
No. of pages: 198 pages
Weight: 135 g
Dimensions: 11cm x 18cm x 1.5cm
Publisher's price: 5.95€
To those who ask, "Tell me what you read?", the author responds with, "How I read". Lying down? Sitting? At the office, at home, in a hotel, in a restaurant, on the subway, in the hospital? Why this? Why that? With or without a bookmark? On the advice of a friend, a critic, a bookseller? Thick volumes, pamphlets? How to classify, pile, arrange, not arrange, or disarrange one's books? Moving house because of books? What pleasure do we derive from the velvety texture or thinness of the paper, the flexibility or rigidity of the bindings, the sound of pages being turned, their smell? What is the connection to memory or forgetting, culture and lack of culture?
Over the course of some fifty funny or moving chapters, a kind of autobiobibliography emerges—a portrait of a couple, a circle of friends, a brotherhood of readers to whom we love to feel close.
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An article about this book can be read on the BibliObs.com website:
This charming autobiographical essay belongs to the rich tradition of autofiction and bibliophilic writing, where personal identity is constructed and refracted through a lifelong relationship with literature. The author explores how physical surroundings, sensory details such as the smell of paper and the feel of bindings, and chance encounters with books shape our private lives and intellectual development. Rather than focusing purely on literary analysis, the book investigates the sociology of reading: how we choose our volumes, where we consume them, and how our libraries mirror our most intimate human relationships.
Readers interested in the phenomenology of reading, contemporary French essays, and memoirs dedicated to the love of books will find this work both engaging and relatable. It serves as a thoughtful companion for anyone curious about the unspoken rituals of bibliophiles and the ways in which memory, friendship, and domestic space intertwine with the written word. It will especially appeal to those who view reading not merely as an intellectual hobby, but as a fundamental way of experiencing the world.