A torrid sex scene in Bruno Le Maire’s latest novel has prompted many critics to advise the French Economy and Finance Minister to stick to his day job.
The novel, released in late April, is about virtuoso pianist Vladimir Horowitz. In 'Fugue Américaine', Le Maire narrates how two brothers, Franz and Oskar Wertheimer, from New York, set off for Cuba to hear the illustrious pianist play at a concert in 1949.
But some steamy passages when 'Oskar' describes his lovemaking with a woman called Julia have been fogging the eyeglasses of readers. Critics on social media have been wondering whether the French official’s time might be better spent focusing on the day job.
Critics flocked to social media to point out that during the mass protests engulfing France in connection with the controversial pension reform recently passed by President Emmanuel Macron, the tone of Le Maire’s side gig struck a dissonant note.
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
Le Maire got flack for his saucy literary escapades at a time when France's financial rating was downgraded from "AA" to "AA-" by the American agency Fitch.
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
Many took issue with the French minister's writing style, and quipped that "a psychological unit" ought to be set up, accessible for "all those who have inadvertently come across the erotic texts of Bruno Le Maire.”
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
Others claimed they wished they could "unsee" the erotic passages that came from Le Maire's pen.
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
Other Twitter posts recalled former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing’s 2009 novel ‘La Princesse et le Président’, which they found imminently more palatable. Social media users were simply turned off by the racy passages in the book.
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
Thomas Portes, deputy leader of opposition party La France Insoumise went on Twitter to point out that, "millions can’t eat or fill their fridges or pay their rent", while the minister Bruno Le Maire "writes novels."
Twitter screenshot.
© Photo : Twitter
The French minister himself fervidly defended his literary endeavor, which incidentally is far from his first.
"This novel is a great human adventure and I wish it be read as such ... Nothing will hinder my freedom to write," Le Maire was quoted as saying in the media.
He added:
“I am not a politician who writes books, I am a politician AND a writer.”