At 69, Guillaume Durand is preparing to release a new book, Let’s have lunch on the grass, on Edouard Manet. A painter he thought a lot about in his fight against cancer, as he explained to Paris Match.
“Looking at his life, what struck me was the hatred he suffered. Everything he offered was refused (…). When I was very sick, I thought of Edouard. What I took in the head was a personal nuclear attack. They grafted part of my leg in place of the jaw… Imagine the reversal in a lifetime! So Manet, this journey of a man who died in excruciating pain at the age of 51… It spoke to me all the more.”
In The Parisianhe had already spoken of his pain: “The first two days, you don’t feel anything. Apart from the huge ultra-oppressive mussel. It’s after that it triggers an avalanche of phenomenal fatigue, damage in the mouth. The most destabilizing are the collateral effects.”
Despite this, he found the strength to finish his book. Published by Bouquins Éditions and available in bookstores from September 1st.