Collection: Michel Tournier

Michel Tournier (1924–2016) was born in Paris and studied philosophy under Jean-Paul Sartre and Gaston Bachelard at the Sorbonne, followed by four years of further study at the University of Tübingen, where one of his classmates was Gilles Deleuze. After failing to pass the civil service exam that would allow him to teach philosophy, Tournier turned his attention to translation and broadcasting, eventually becoming a well-known host of cultural programs on radio and television. Friday, his best-selling first novel, was published in 1967 and awarded the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française. He went on to write six more novels—among them The Ogre (winner of the Prix Goncourt in 1970), Gemini, The Four Wise Men, and Gilles and Jeanne—as well as several books of nonfiction, including The Wind Spirit and The Mirror of Ideas. He also adapted Friday as a children's book, published in English as Friday and Robinson.