Delusions of Grandeur, Patrick de Funès

Following "Médecin Malgré Moi" (Doctor Despite Myself), Patrick de Funès offers us a new, incisive perspective on our society, this time targeting the "précieuses ridicules" (ridiculous précieuses).

Following "Médecin malgré moi," Patrick de Funès offers us a new, incisive perspective on our society, this time targeting the "précieuses ridicules."

In "La Folie des grandeurs" (Delusions of Grandeur), Louis de Funès brilliantly portrayed a Grandee of Spain, those nobles whose most significant privilege was to remain covered in the presence of the king. Patrick de Funès has decided to focus on today's "Grands," those "people" who inhabit a new Olympus, inaccessible to ordinary mortals. He thus offers us an iconoclastic and irresistible portrait of our "Grands"—those who only eat in "grand restaurants," who only seek treatment from "grand doctors," who only stay in "grand hotels," and who only care about "grand causes." Studying the customs and traditions of these "grand artists," "grand athletes," and other "grand businessmen," the author paints a picture of a caste whose ridiculousness is matched only by their self-satisfaction.

Patrick de Funès' innate sense of caricature and his delightful and salvatory "bad spirit," a worthy son of his father, make this book a unique and delightful document about our era and its shortcomings.