Pierre Michon's 'Abbés' Explores the Body and Writing

French writer Pierre Michon has published a new collection of dense, meticulously crafted short texts titled 'Abbés' (Éditions Verdier). In this work, Michon reflects on his own body, rejecting the dualism that separates body and spirit. Born in 1945, he recalls a childhood marked by poverty, a post-1968 flirtation with terrorism and homelessness, a struggle with barbiturates, and an ongoing relationship with alcohol. The book's title references 'Corps du roi' (the king's two bodies), a concept Michon applies to writers like Beckett, Faulkner, and Flaubert, whose mortal bodies produce immortal texts. Michon argues that Christianity, particularly Catholicism, holds a more materialist view, defining the soul as the form of the body. The collection includes commentary on a photograph of Samuel Beckett by Lufti Özkök, where Michon sees the two bodies of the king manifested. Michon's writing has drawn criticism from some literary circles, similar to previous backlash against Pascal Quignard, but he remains a 'true writer' who produces work with care and scarcity.