I GIVE YOU MY WORD

by Francoise Giroud ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 23, 1974

An interview-memoir so conversational, at times almost flee-associative, that you might have wandered into an elegant Parisian salon to faire la connaissance of France's new Junior Minister of Feminine Affairs and editor-in-chief of L Express, one of the most influential newsweeklies in Europe. Francoise Giroud is bright with the Gallic ""talent for life"" and promises to ""give it to you raw, not any warmed-over reminiscences."" Her anecdotes about the brilliant society of her time begin with Andre Gide in 1932 when she worked for film director Marc Allegret, and include memories of Malraux, Saint-Exupery, Jean Renoir (""I was taken on to type a Film script. . .called La Grande Illusion"") and Von Stroheim. Her debut as a journalist for Paris-Soir after the Occupation marks her entry into the inner circles of power, from de Gaulle, Mendes-France and Mitterand to ""Dear Mauriac. . .There was no one quite like him."" Giroud reveals herself as a reform capitalist (""no revolutionary plan for the Western societies really exists. . . .""), slightly anti-feminist (""Men's plot against women. . .if indeed they fomented it and pulled it off, it's because. . .women didn't come up to their level""), and highly conscious of her ability to influence people's thinking -- and of the weight and responsibility of a free press. An extraordinary insight into the conservativism of liberal power politics, the mind of postwar French government and the disingenuousness of a very clever careerist.

Pub Date: Oct. 23, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION