[au sujet du Roi des Aulnes]

A fine letter concerning the abandoned publisher’s insert for Le Roi des Aulnes, winner of the 1970 Prix Goncourt, which never appeared and was replaced by a short text on the dust-jacket flap. Tournier had wanted to write it himself, since “for nine years [he] wrote all the publisher’s inserts for Éditions Plon.”

Gallimard, however, put an end to the matter: the Collection Blanche did not carry publisher’s inserts. Tournier nonetheless found a clever use for his text: “I published it myself under a fanciful name as a review of Le Roi des Aulnes in a newspaper where I have connections. I won’t tell you which one. It is the finest jewel in my press book. One is never so well served as by oneself, etc.” Ladies and gentlemen, the investigation is open!