{"id":32314,"date":"2023-05-03T15:19:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T15:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lynettelockhart.com\/client\/focused-on-the-job\/"},"modified":"2023-05-03T15:21:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T15:21:19","slug":"focused-on-the-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lynettelockhart.com\/client\/focused-on-the-job\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Focused on the job’: France’s Le Maire defends writing of steamy novel"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dominique Vidalon<\/p>\n

PARIS (Reuters) – French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said he was fully focused on creating growth and fighting inflation after coming under fire for penning a steamy novel that was published hours before France’s credit rating was downgraded by an agency.<\/p>\n

Political opponents and commentators have ridiculed Le Maire for an explicit sex scene in the book and questioned whether he should be writing saucy fiction at a time surging consumer prices are eroding households budgets, and when there is widespread anger over an unpopular rise in the retirement age.<\/p>\n

“I am 100% focused on the job,” Le Maire told Franceinfo radio. <\/p>\n

“Fugue Americaine” is a fictitious story about the late legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz and tells of the travels of brothers Franz and Oskar Wertheimer to Cuba to attend one of his concerts. <\/p>\n

It is a graphic account of Oskar having sex with a character named Julia that has exposed Le Maire to mocking and criticism. <\/p>\n

The French edition of the Huffington Post headlined a story “Bruno Le Maire has written about an anus and no one was ready for this.” <\/p>\n

“These are 10 lines out of a 480 pages book,” Le Maire shot back when pushed on his writings during the Franceinfo interview. “This novel is a great human adventure and I wish it be read as such … Nothing will hinder my freedom to write.”<\/p>\n

The minister has also taken to Twitter to defend his pastime. “Many of you are asking me how I find the time to write when I am a minister,” he wrote “Some people do gardening or go hiking, I write.”<\/p>\n

But opponents are not convinced. <\/p>\n

Fran\u00e7ois Ruffin, a leftwing lawmaker told BFM television: “At a time when the French people have huge worries about inflation … should he have one minute, one hour, one week of his time to dedicate to writing erotic scenes?\u201d <\/p>\n

The novel comes after President Emmanuel Macron’s junior minister for the social economy, Marlene Schiappa, caused outrage by posing for the cover of Playboy magazine, although fully clothed.<\/p>\n

\n

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Richard Lough and Alison Williams)<\/p>\n

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