The Bad Life: A Memoir

Description

Bearer of an illustrious name and nephew of a President of the Republic, Frederic Mitterrand is born into the discreet gentility of Paris' haut bourgeois 16th arrondissement. Raised by an army of surrogates, he spends his summers in Evian and North Africa and his winters on Alpine slopes. But, growing up in a time and environment where such things are not talked about, Frederic struggles with a difficult secret. Wracked by a fear of abandonment and confused by his sexual urges toward other boys, he reaches out haphazardly for affection -- with both comic and catastrophic results. At age 12, in the first of many capricious attempts to find his true identity, he sneaks into an audition for a major motion picture and gets a part. Thus begins a life steeped in celebrity, French cinema, and clandestine romantic liaisons. In later life, Mitterand, a renowned critic, producer, and talk show host, seeks out old friends, servants, and loves, who reveal startlingly unexpected interpretations of his formative years. Mitterrand's memoir is a Godard film come to life -- a Nouvelle Vague Oh the Glory of It All. Now Minister of Culture and Communication, Mitterrand reveals his life as a denizen of the psychological underworld and gay icon in haute societe.

Frederic Mitterrand is a writer, television personality, filmmaker, and gay rights activist. In 2009, he was appointed Minister of Culture and Communication by French president Nicolas Sarkozy. He lives in France.

Praise for The Bad Life "An elegant and pensive meditation, largely centering on Mitterand's many friendships, including those with a doomed young aristocrat, an AIDS-stricken American cinephile and the great Catherine Deneuve. There is something ineffably Gallic about Mitterrand's attitude toward the events of his own life: a combination of fatalism, philosophical resignation, unapologetic love of the finer things and a penchant for introspection." --WaPo "Movie stars, famous artists, tycoons, powerful politicians--these characters are all present in this stunning book, which is saved from being a celebrity memoir by its moral depth, its beautiful writing and its relentless honesty. Frederic Mitterrand (as his name might suggest) has known everyone of importance, but he approaches every subject with sensitivity and a reckless candor." --Edmund White