The art of obituaries with Bénichou

Le Regard Libre N°63 - Loris S. Musumeci

I don't know why, but I can hear Pierre Bénichou saying to me with tenderness: «You little prick, it's only now that I've had my fill that you're thinking of writing something about my book!» It's so like him: insulting people to express his friendship. Especially since he's right. I did read his book when it came out in 2017, but since we can wait and wait and wait, it took Pierre Bénichou falling asleep - without waking up - on March 31 for me to pick up his only book, the collection of obituaries Les absents, levez le doigt! so that, in turn, I could write his obituary, or his ’portrait-souvenir«, as he calls it.

Bénichou disait qu’il avait la mémoire longue, mais la plume courte. Moi aussi, j’essaierai de faire court. Et surtout de faire sobre. Parce que c’est comme ça, les n