Et vous avez eu beau temps?

the long version

Are we sure of the apparent benevolence that surrounds the traditional question of the end of summer: "And ... did you have good weather? Especially when our pale complexion betrays without a doubt fifteen days of rain to Gerardmer ... To the bad guys who take us by surprise with their "Maybe we can be tu tu tu? What is it allowed to answer really? In the city as in the village, Philippe Delerm listens and looks at the human comedy, to glean all these falsely ordinary little sentences, and to reveal what they hide from perfidy or hypocrisy. But also slipping some softer, Delerm lets burst his talent and fun in this book is certainly among his best. Inventor of a genre of which he is the sole representative, "the literary snapshot", Philippe Delerm is in line with the great classical authors who sketch the portrait of their contemporaries, such as La Bruyère and his Characters.--Seuil.