Simenon: A Biography

The Belgian-born author, whose many novels include the mega-selling Inspector Maigret books, doesn't come across as a terribly nice man in this coolly detached biography by French editor Assouline. Simenon (1903-89) womanized flagrantly, promoted himself unabashedly, and, late in life, penned a series of controversial memoirs that unsparingly delineated his tortuous relations with his parents, wives, and children. He was also a dedicated writer as committed to growing artistically as to piling up royalties, and his complex personality--perceptively analyzed by Assouline--makes for engrossing reading.