L’Aube le Soir ou la Nuit (Dawn Evening or Night)
By Yasmina Reza
(Flammarion), €18

Yasmina Reza is one of France’s most playful playwrights with a devastating eye for human vanity and a mischievous sense of fun. Astonishingly, Nicolas Sarkozy agreed to give her almost unrestricted access to his presidential election campaign, enabling her to study a politician at close quarters and write what she liked. The fact that Mr Sarkozy accepted such an arrangement tells you much about his near-compulsive instinct for taking risks and his confidence that he can win anyone round.