David Foenkinos was born in Paris in 1974. There he studied Literature at the Sorbonne and Jazz Music at the Centre d\u2019informations musicales. He then worked as a guitar teacher and in the public relations offices of various publishing houses.<\/p>\n
His career as a writer began in 2002 with the novel \u00bbInversion de l\u2019idiotie. De l\u2019influence de deux Polonais\u00ab (tr. Inversion of idiocy. The influence of the two Poles), which won the Prix Fran\u00e7ois-Mauriac. That the characters mentioned in the subtitle and other aspects \u2013 like the female figures\u2019 interest in the German language \u2013 appear repeatedly in later works is one of the author\u2019s trademarks. Also mentioned in many of Foenkinos\u2019 novels is the book \u00bbLa Belle du Seigneur\u00ab (1968; Eng. \u00bbHer Lover\u00ab, 2005) by Albert Cohen, whose philosophical-ironical reflections on the phenomena of love and passion and whose literary exaltation of the woman markedly influenced Foenkinos. Foenkinos himself names other role models, as well, including Philip Roth, Milan Kundera, and Woody Allen. While the style and plots of his early stories are characterized by a fast pace and weirdness when romance is abruptly followed by disillusionment and the human yearning for love is disenchanted, Foenkinos strikes up more melancholy tones starting with \u00bbNos s\u00e9parations\u00ab (2008; tr. Our separation). A review of this novel in the \u00bbFrankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung\u00ab underscored its lightness and self-irony, as well as the author\u2019s infatuation with language, which is reflected in the protagonist\u2019s profession; he is a word researcher who, like most of Foenkinos\u2019 male characters, is an awkward but likeable hero. In 2009, he published the novel \u00bbLa d\u00e9licatesse\u00ab (Eng. \u00bbDelicacy\u00ab, 2012), which he called a modern mixture between \u00bbSleeping Beauty\u00ab and \u00bbBeauty and the Beast\u00ab. It was a bestseller, and in 2011, Foenkinos and his brother St\u00e9phane filmed it with the French actress Audrey Tautou in the leading role. In 2014, Foenkinos took part in adapting his novel \u00bbLes souvenirs\u00ab (2011; tr. Souvenirs) as a screenplay. His newest novel, \u00bbCharlotte\u00ab (2014), tells of the life of the Jewish-German painter Charlotte Salomon, which he reconstructs based on one of her cycles. According to a French critique, Foenkinos dealt as delicately with this treasure hoard of memories as if Charlotte Salomon were his sister, mother, or even beloved. For this work, in 2014 he was awarded the Prix Renaudot and the Prix Goncourt des lyc\u00e9ens.<\/p>\n
Foenkinos also writes theater plays and has been a columnist with the magazine \u00bbPsychologies\u00ab since 2008. He lives in Paris.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11920,"template":"","jct-role":[1080],"jct-origin":[501],"jct-ilb-years":[609],"class_list":["post-39415","authors","type-authors","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","jct-role-author","jct-origin-france","jct-ilb-years-2015-en"],"yoast_head":"\n