Vandals Destroy Books at Lagrasse Literary Festival Honoring Pascal Quignard

On the night of August 9-10, 2007, a group of vandals infiltrated a temporary bookstore established by André Thorel of Ombres Blanches at the abbey of Lagrasse, part of the literary festival organized by éditions Verdier. They soaked numerous books in diesel and engine oil, resulting in damages exceeding €40,000. The festival, which ran from August 3-10, paid homage to writer Pascal Quignard, whose essay "La Nuit sexuelle" was set for release by Flammarion in October. Notable participants included Alain Fleischer, Annie Ernaux, Antoine Volodine, Pierre Bergounioux, Catherine Millet, and Jean-Claude Milner, who labeled the assailants as "charognards." An earlier article in Le Figaro, linked to fundamentalist circles, may have provoked the vandalism, which specifically targeted works on sexuality, children's literature, and theology, including texts about Saint Augustine. Jacques Henric, in artpress, remarked that Quignard's prior warnings about puritanism and disdain for sexual imagery now appear prophetic.