Catherine Robbe-Grillet's Intimate Portrait of Alain Robbe-Grillet

Two new books from Fayard offer an unprecedented look into the unconventional marriage of Alain and Catherine Robbe-Grillet: "Alain" (with a postface by Emmanuelle Lambert) and "Correspondance 1951-1990." The 685-page correspondence traces their relationship from 1951, when 19-year-old Catherine Rstakian met the 30-year-old aspiring writer. Their bond, lasting until Alain's death in 2008, was marked by open relationships, voyeurism, and BDSM practices. Catherine's "Alain" is an alphabetical collection of vignettes covering everything from daily routines to his affair with actress Catherine Jourdan. The books are notable for their frankness, including Alain's admission of impotence and his pro-Vichy sympathies during WWII. Catherine refused to destroy compromising letters from Alain's time working in Germany under the STO. The portrait reveals a private, blunt, and sometimes biased man who enjoyed Bordeaux and cigars until the end.