104 - FALLET, René. Is There a Doctor in the House?

FALLET, René. Is There a Doctor in the House? Paris, Denoël, 1977. In-8 (20.5 x 14 cm), paperback, illustrated dust jacket. 361 pp. Slight scuffing on the dust jacket flaps. First edition featuring an amusing full-page signed dedication by the author on the half-title page: “To Lucienne and Pierre, this 2CV crushed against a rock (in Gibraltar...) With love from their René Fallet." This refers to the couple Lucienne Vernay (a singer-songwriter who set several of Fallet’s texts to music) and Pierre Onténiente (a close confidant of Georges Brassens, nicknamed “Gibraltar”). A novel about the tumultuous and passionate romantic relationship between a playwright (Régis Ferrier) and a doctor (Dr. Marthe Vivier). “Every sport has its rules. The team sport that is a couple’s life has none. In love, everything is tolerated—from low blows to gunshots, not to mention the foulest language, poison, despair, blackmail, and other things I’m forgetting—including the saddest ones. There are no noble roles in love. War reigns there, hand-to-hand. When love dies, it doesn’t just die—it dies a miserable death. Then comes the exquisite hour of revenge, of rampant jealousy, of fairy-tale-style settling of scores. Then comes the hour when the wounded are gathered up. Some recover.” (excerpt) A beautiful copy with a dedication by René Fallet.