Histoire d’un fonctionnaire

Histoire d’un fonctionnaire is a gentle, ironic meditation on ordinary life: that of an outwardly unremarkable man caught up in administrative machinery and the shifting meanings of everyday existence. Dhôtel pursues here his singular art of existential drift, in which banality reveals life’s hidden mysteries; as in Le Pays où l’on n’arrive jamais, the world is perceived in its invisible folds. A good copy with a fine provenance: Sylvie Genevoix. A discreet but influential literary figure, she began a career in publishing after studying classics at the Sorbonne. She started at Plon as press attaché for the 10/18 imprint, then coordinated the literary departments at Plon-Perrin-Julliard, becoming literary director at Julliard. From 1992 to 2005 she was literary director at Albin Michel, before being appointed to the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA), where she worked on the development of local television and the accessibility of programs for people with disabilities. At the CSA she also chaired the Mission langue française et francophonie. Sylvie Genevoix grew up at Les Vernelles, the family home acquired by her father Maurice Genevoix in 1927. There she developed a deep attachment to the Loire and to family memory, which she recounted in La maison de mon père (2001).]]>