Cavanna was the co-founder of the newspapers Hara-Kiri (1960) and Charlie Hebdo (1970). In 1972, the headquarters of these titles moved to the Latin Quarter. From this period until his death (2014) part of the author's life, recounted in these pages, was spent in this Parisian neighborhood; more precisely a small island between the church of Saint-Julien-le-Pauvre, rue Galande, Place Maubert, rue de Bièvre (where President François Mitterrand lived) and the Quai de Montebello. Cavanna tells us some essential anecdotes that show how a neighborhood can live to the rhythm of the heartbeats of its residents. Little Virginia, Carmen, the pharmacist, Rita, Claude Nougaro... the people who give life to Cavanna's neighborhood. Not far away, in the Jardin des Plantes, Nénette, the oldest orangutan in the world, seems to be enjoying the moods of this old man so young with an ever incandescent heart.
This volume, conceived as a sequel to Lune de miel [Gallimard, 2011], is the last book Cavanna worked on before he died. No doubt he would have made some additions or changes in detail, but it can be considered a finished work. Composed, as was Lune de miel, of fairly short chapters, the book brings together memories and anecdotes that evoke both the end of the author's life and his past (Charlie Hebdo, the S.T.O...). One finds there with happiness the cheerful gibberish of Cavanna, his big mouth, his blows of anger, his outbursts of affection, his passion for language and literature : a writer, a real one. The title takes up the last words of the text, full of rage and love of life at the moment of letting go.
Lit Cities uses cookies to improve your experience and assist with our promotional efforts.
I accept