He was born in the French town of Cards, Creuse, in 1945. Considered by many to be the best French writer on the current scene, he began his literary career at the late age of 39 with the novel 'Minuscule Lives', winner of the prestigious France Culture award and already converted into a cult work in France. He is the author of other works such as ‘Rimbaud el son’, ‘The origin of the world’ and ‘The Eleven’, the most recent and which was awarded the Grand Prize for a Novel of the French Academy in 2009.