Claude Baumann, CEO of finews
«Le Mystère Henri Pick» by David Foenkinos
What it is:
The book is a best-seller. But who wrote it? An unremarkable, long-dead pizza-baker named Henri Pick, a Parisian literary agent, or a brutally ambitious poet and friend? Or does the book stem from someone else's hand, perhaps in the mysterious Bretagne, where it is set? An aging book critic sets out to reveal the secret in a tome full of surprises.
Why I recommend it:
I always wanted to become a writer until an accidental meeting on a beach in Cassis with someone who turned out be David Foenkinos. We talked for awhile – he's a nice guy – but he never mentioned that the two dozen books he had published by that point sold millions and been translated into 40 languages, and that he won France's prestigious Prix Renaudot as well as the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens the same year (2014). Monsieur Pick's caper was even released as a feature film earlier this year. Ever since the encounter on a beach in southern France, I know that I'd rather be an avid reader than a bad writer.
