The Little Girl and the Cigarette

Young French author, Benoit Duteurtre, creates a world disconcertingly close to our own, yet wildly askew in this daring and antic comedy. Translated from French.

A death-row inmate becomes a darling of the media (and the tobacco conglomerates) when he demands his right to a final cigarette in a smoke-free prison. Meanwhile, a little girl accuses a petty bureaucrat of sexual perversion when she catches him sneaking a cigarette. In this world where children rule tyrannically a cigarette could lead him to the electric chair...

«What I admire most about The Little Girl and the Cigarette is the clarity with which this novel unmasks the fundamental stupidity of our modern world; the black humor that transforms horror into a fascinating danse macabre.» Milan Kundera

«A joy to read, as much as it is alarming.»- Le Monde