French Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, is making headlines globally, but not for positive reasons. An erotic massage scene from his novel, “Fugue Américaine” (“American Fugue”), has gone viral and is being widely ridiculed. This has become a controversy that French President Emmanuel Macron is likely to find unwelcome amidst the ongoing protests.
People are now asking the government to explain how the minister finds the time to write novels when the nation is facing economic difficulties. This has put Le Maire in a difficult position, as he has been at the forefront of defending Macron’s controversial pension reform plan that has led to months of violent protests.
The novel portrays a different world from France’s current reality, but the minister is facing pressure to help the French deal with rising costs of living due to surges in fuel prices and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The novel is based on the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz and follows the story of two brothers, Franz and Oskar Wertheimer, who travel to Cuba to attend one of his concerts, only to have their lives turned upside down.
However, the focus has shifted to a single page in the novel that contains an explicit description of Oskar having sex with a woman named Julia. This has drawn criticism from MP Francois Ruffin of the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party, who believes that the minister should not be dedicating time to writing books when the French are facing inflation concerns.
In response to the criticism, Le Maire’s colleague, Olivier Dussopt, defended his right to write but admitted to not having read the novel. He stated that this shows that there are emotions behind the ministers’ suits and that the erotic passage made him smile.
Overall, the attention generated by the erotic massage scene in Le Maire’s novel has put the French minister in a difficult position and has drawn criticism from some quarters.
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