The French Obsession with Sarkozy: A Bona Five Love Story

I'm fascinated by France's Sarkozy and I'm not even a French person.
Many French people are so obsessed with their leader that they're now taking many of their respective obsessions, fantasies, and issues to their therapists' office.
I'm really not joking.
The Times' piece observes:
“As I listened to my patients during consultations, many of them mentioned Sarkozy by name,” Dr. Hefez said. “He’s penetrated some of their deepest fantasies. I noticed all this passion in people speaking of him, and I thought there is something particular about this man — he’s like a reflection of us in the mirror.”
The French project themselves onto Mr. Sarkozy, too, Dr. Hefez said.
“He’s the incarnation of the postmodern man, obsessed with himself, turned toward pleasure, autonomous and narcissistic,” the psychiatrist said. “And he exhibits his joys and sorrows, all his private life, his sentimental doubts and pleasures. He represents the individualism of the society to the extreme, that it’s the individual who counts, not the society.”

Well, especially the last paragraph made me produce a loud, 'holy cow!' when I read it. Could it be basic cynicism or is there actually some measure of truth to this? Granted, there is individualism galore out there but I find it difficult to believe that it is the sole active currency. I've found Sarkozy fascinating from the very beginning. I don't know what it is, really, other than this inherent ability to fuse confidence with inferiority.
Apparently, the French are reading papers obsessively following their leader's private and public life as closely as possible. Many papers are being sold and many discussions are being generated. Oh, yes, and more shrinks are being seen too. Here's how a session starts in my mind:
'So, what would you like to talk about today?'
'I had a dream that I was dating Carla Bruni,' says the hypothetical French patient.
I don't know if the Sarkozy phenomenon is a a commentary on contemporary individualism or a simple example of people being fascinated by foibled and fallible leading figures. Hmm. I especially like how the Times article concludes:
'The Rue89 news Web site asked: “After a year of dependency, how can we stop being Sarkotoxicated?”
As yet, there appears to be no cure.'
graph per ny times

New Bob Dylan Book Delivers

It is no secret that I genuinely love Bob Dylan. His lyrics inspire me and his music informs me so well. He delivers. Every time. See this to check out an earlier Dylan-inspired piece.
So, of course I'd be very interested in the new Dylan book, Million Dollar Bash: Bob Dylan, the Band and the Basement Tapes.
What makes this book unique are the countless details about Dylan's creative process as observed in the behind-the-scenes after his 1966 motorcycle accident. The at-times-existential Dylan is a beautiful thing to read about. Dylan, the human, is exposed adequately and the reader cannot help but appreciate his genius more. And to give you some idea of the kind of detail you're bound to get in the book, check this out:
'“At 2:12 Dylan plays a tender if slightly clumsy lead guitar solo on his acoustic twelve-string. At 3:18 Bob bumps his guitar on his chair.”'
Any Dylan fan would enjoy this read. I recommend.
Thanks to the rolling stone for the tip.
graph per rollingstone

Is This Evolved?

Would one be out of line if one called this book a tad sexist?
Ok, so, here is the premise.
It's a guide to the beautiful women of Paris and where one might meet them.
I'm really not joking. This is what the book is all about. And the author, a thirty-something man stands by his thesis with firmness.

Check out the following bits from AFP's review.

'Paris is the most visited capital in the world and people come here to see city's magnificent women as much as they come to admire the Mona Lisa and the Eiffel Tower, Pierre-Louis Colin told AFP.
...
He rejected suggestions that an alternative title for his oeuvre might have been the "Voyeur's Guide to the Pretty Women of Paris" -- though concedes his girlfriend was at first perturbed by the idea of his book, but later came to like it.'

Ok, after reading it, my first reaction was 'oh?' The second was 'oh!'
If one's running out of things to text to friends, one should pick up a copy of this book. Some of you might find it preposterously objectifying and sexist, some a light read to take on a plane. If nothing else, it'll generate a healthy number of SMS threads. At least, I'm finding it so.
graph per amazon