“In prison, there is nothing to see and nothing to do,” that’s the teaser from Sarkozy's Prisoner’s Diary that will be published next month. Is it worth a read?
In October, Nicolas Sarkozy became the first former French president to serve jail time post-World War II. He was convicted of criminal conspiracy over a scheme to fund his 2007 presidential race.
But as we recently switched our clocks to winter time, Sarkozy switched a five-year sentence into just 20 days behind bars.
So, what was our writer-in-residence up to inside? Well, we can’t be sure, but we can guess his daily routine.
Morning: reading time. Sakrozy brought two symbolic books: The Count of the Monte Cristo, a tale of unjust imprisonment and revenge, and a biography of Jesus. Subtle? Hardly.
Midday: a bit of time to stretch your legs in an 11-square-meter cell. No luxury here – just a hotplate for cooking, a shower, and a TV which he had to rent for €14 a month. A good deal to watch Euronews.
Afternoon: In between writing his 200-page memoir, he had to face paparazzi inside. Inmates used smuggled phones to film him through the bars and leaked the footage online.
Is the book Pulitzer material? Readers will have to decide. Prisoner’s Diary will be out on 10 December. We haven't read it yet, but we give the marketing campaign a solid 5/5.
Watch the Euronews video in the player above for the full story.