1991. A young man is mesmerised by the rolling coverage of Desert Storm. Forging sick notes to avoid work and feigning reasons to avoid his girlfriend, he gradually destroys his whole life. Then he meets Victorien Salagnon, an elderly artist and a veteran of countless wars. Together, they strike a bargain: Salagnon will teach the young man to paint and, in return, he wants his memoirs written down, a ranging, bloody life story of being a teenage resistant in Nazi-occupied France; of hunting rebels in Indochina and engaging in torture in Algeria; of the deaths that were as numberless as they were senseless; of the killing fields on which the modern world is built.

About the Author

Alexis Jenni is a French novelist and biology teacher. His debut novel, The French Art of War, won the 2011 Prix Goncourt. He lives in Lyon.

Frank Wynne is an Irish literary translator and writer.

Reviews
Bold, brave, magnificent. * Irish Times *
Shock-and-awe virtuosity * Financial Times *
A masterpiece. -- Frederic Beigbeder * Le Figaro *
Difficult to put down and impossible to forget * Irish Times *



Book Information
ISBN 9780857897541
Author Alexis Jenni
Format Paperback
Page Count 624
Imprint Atlantic Books
Publisher Atlantic Books
Weight(grams) 450g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 128mm * 39mm