Last but not least: A line of cola with Frédéric Beigbeder

 
Anyone who has read the book will not have forgotten the scene in which the protagonist Octave Parangos has to leave a meeting bleeding from a slight excess of cocaine in his nose. Parangos is a copywriter at one of the largest French agencies, the meeting is about a multi-million euro contract, but if the blood drips onto his white shirt, what else is there to do but leave cold? We are talking about the cult novel "99 francs" ("39.90") by the French author, journalist and former advertising copywriter Frédéric Beigbeder, who offers an unsparing but also ludicrous reckoning with his time in the Paris advertising industry. He describes it as disillusioned to the point of cynicism, morally bankrupt, the spearhead of a borderline-debauched consumer society - and, of course, quite coked up. Beigbeder proved just how autobiographically inspired the novel, published in 2000, was when he was caught red-handed by the police pulling a line of coke from the hood of a car near the 8th arrondissement. Initially, the 42-year-old and his friend fled, but they were caught by the police. After a brief detention and a relief of two sachets of cocaine, they were released. The only suspicious thing about the episode is that the sequel to the novel "99 francs" has been on the market for six months. Somehow the whole thing smells not only of coke, but also of a promotional tour.