Investigative journalism and satire are not France's best known exports but they do exist. Here is a selection of four of my favorite French books that lift the veil of secrecy surrounding networks of influence, the working habits of French functionaries, environmental challenges, and the governance of elite educational institutions. Take them to the beach this summer!
Les Strauss-Kahn de Raphaëlle Bacqué et Ariane Chemin (6 juin 2012)
(Most interesting not for the DSK story, which is now well known, but for the backstory concerning his astonishingly powerful, widespread, tentacular and still operative networks of influence, many of whom - Proglio of EDF, for example - are still in the news today)
Absolument dé-bor-dée ! ou le paradoxe du fonctionnaire - Comment faire les 35 heures en... un mois ! de Zoé Shepard (3 mars 2010)
(The humor may be a bit grinding at times but the practices Ms Shepard skewers are horrifically real - when she was criticized by her chiefs it was not for lack of accuracy but for its excess. LOVE the Chinese adventures.)
Pesticides : Révélations sur un scandale français de Fabrice Nicolino et François Veillerette (22 février 2007)
(Excellent documentary work which tragically remains relevant today; special mention for the insights into how regulatory agencies are coopted, neutralized and ultimately controlled by the industrial polluters they are supposed to watch over. NONE of the issues identified have been resolved - or even attacked)
Élite Academy: Enquête sur la France malade de ses grandes écoles de Peter Gumbel (15 mai 2013)
(Astonishing inside look at Sciences Po during the stressful days surrounding Mediapart's outing of Richard Descoing's half million euro salary and his subsequent tragic - and never explained - death in a NY hotel. A study of the powerful influence and banana republic governance of France's most elite educational institutions. )
