Éric Reinhardt (born 2 April 1965) is a French writer and publisher currently living in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Early life

Reinhardt grew up in a middle-class family approximately 30 kilometres from

Corbeil-Essonnes Corbeil-Essonnes () on the River Seine is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Although neighboring Évry is the official seat of the Arrondissement of Évry, the sub-prefecture buildin ...

. He attended preparatory classes in Paris at

Collège-lycée Jacques-Decour The Collège-lycée Jacques-Decour () is a school in Paris, France, on avenue Trudaine. History The school was founded as the private Collège Sainte-Barbe in 1821 and renamed Collège Rollin in 1830. It was transplanted in 1876 from the Quarti ...

before studying at ISG Business School with the aim of finding employment in the publishing world. At ISG he wrote a first-year thesis on the publishing committee at Gallimard and a thesis on . Following the completion of his studies, Reinhardt commenced working in publishing before moving into publishing art books specifically. He worked at publishing houses ,

Albin Michel Albin may refer to: Places * Albin, Wyoming, US * Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota, US * Albin, Virginia, US People * Albin (given name), origin of the name and people with the first name "Albin" * Albin (surname) ;Mononyms * Albin of ...

, and .

Novelist

Reinhardt began writing while working in publishing and published his first novel ''Demi-sommeil'' in 1998 with . ''Demi-sommeil'' explored dealing with the loss of childhood and love. ''Le Moral des ménages'', published in 2002 by Editions Stock is a critique of the middle class. ''Existence'' (2004), ''Cendrillon'' (2007) and ''Le Système Victoria'' (2011) continued in this vein, subjects covered included globalisation, world finance and the diktat of social achievement. ''L'Amour et les forêts'' (2014), Reinhardt's first novel published by Gallimard represented a change in topic to the world of the intimate in the spirit of

Gustave Flaubert Gustave Flaubert ( , ; ; 12 December 1821 – 8 May 1880) was a French novelist. He has been considered the leading exponent of literary realism in his country and abroad. According to the literary theorist Kornelije Kvas, "in Flaubert, realis ...

and

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and s ...

. Selling more than 100,000 copies, this novel won both Le Prix Renaudot des lycéens and Le Prix Roman France Télévisions in 2014. A blend of truth and fiction, ''La Chambre des époux'' (2017) covered his wife's experience with breast cancer and his fear of losing her. ''Comédies françaises'' (2020) is a novel based on real events about the development of the internet and the impact of lobbyist

Ambroise Roux Ambroise Roux (26 June 1921 – 4 April 1999) was a French businessman and political advisor. He was the chief executive officer of Compagnie générale d'électricité (later known as Alcatel) from 1970 to 1981. He was the founding president of t ...

who convinced

Valery Giscard d'Estaing Valery () is a male given name and occasional surname. It is derived from the Latin name '' Valerius''. The Slavic given name Valeriy or Valeri is prevalent in Russia and derives directly from the Latin. Given name * Valery Afanassiev, Russian ...

to halt French efforts based on the ideas of

Louis Pouzin Louis Pouzin (born 20 April 1931) is a French computer scientist and Internet pioneer. He directed the development of the CYCLADES computer network in France the early 1970s, which implemented a novel design for packet communication. He was the ...

. ''Comédies françaises'' was nominated for the , the

Prix Interallié The prix Interallié (Interallié Prize), also known simply as ''l'Interallié'', is an annual France, French list of literary awards, literary award, awarded for a novel written by a journalist. History The prize was started on 3 December 19 ...

, the

Prix Medicis Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell (America ...

and won the ex aequo with

Constance Debré Constance Debré, born in 1972, is a French lawyer and novelist. Biography Constance Debré's parents were journalist François Debré (1942–2020) and former model Maylis Ybarnégaray (1942–1988); the judge and politician Jean-Louis Debré ...

's ''Love me tender''.

Bibliography

Novels

*''Demi-sommeil'', Actes-Sud, 1998, *''Le Moral des ménages'', Stock, 2002, *''Existence'', Stock, 2004, *''Cendrillon'', Stock, 2007, *''Le Système Victoria'', Stock, 2011, *''L’amour et les forêts'', Gallimard, 2014, *''La Chambre des époux'', Gallimard, 2017, *''Comédies françaises'', Gallimard, 2020, *''Sarah, Susanne et l'écrivain'', Gallimard, 2023

Theatre

*''Leverage de quatre'' in L'Argent, Avant-Scène, 2009, *''Élisabeth ou l'Équité'', Stock, 2013,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinhardt, Éric 1965 births ISG Business School alumni French male novelists Living people Prix Renaudot des lycéens winners