Fleur Pellerin may be French Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication but as far as culture goes ... well, as for example Anne Penketh reports in The Guardian, Modiano, who ? French minister unable to name book by Nobel winner -- this after lunching with the guy, mind you.
See also the BBC report that French culture minister admits she 'reads very little' (scroll down for the great picture of Modiano to cruelly go with it ...).
Yes, points for candor, but for someone in this position ...:
(Of course, in the US there isn't even anything close to a cabinet-level position for the arts -- no Secretary of Culture -- and the very idea of one probably strikes a considerable percentage of the electorate as an absurdity .....)
Yes, points for candor, but for someone in this position ...:
Pellerin told the Canal+ presenter, who had asked her to identify her favourite Modiano book: "I've no problem in confessing that I've not had any time to read for the past two years. I read a lot of notes, a lot of legislative texts, news, AFP stories, but I read very little."I'd be slightly more forgiving (though admittedly just slightly ...) if she had at least been better-prepped by her staff so she could at least name a Modiano book, even if she hasn't read it. (What kind of notes is she reading if not basic background stuff like this for these situations ?) But for a minister of culture not to read any fiction, or indeed any books ..... "(N)otes, a lot of legislative texts, news, AFP stories" -- that's pretty feeble.
(Of course, in the US there isn't even anything close to a cabinet-level position for the arts -- no Secretary of Culture -- and the very idea of one probably strikes a considerable percentage of the electorate as an absurdity .....)