Publishing, the Rules of the Trade

Absolument dé-bor-dée ! ou le paradoxe du fonctionnaire

Zoé Shepard, Albin Michel, original edition, 2010, Coll. Bfm - Limoges

Absolument dé-bor-dée ! ou le paradoxe du fonctionnaire is the story, written by an employee, of the poor organisation in the Conseil régional d’Aquitaine. Although she had changed all the names and places, Zoe Shepard was threatened with losing her job, before being suspended for four months. This sanction, commented in the media, was not unanimously approved by her employers, the regional institution. Some evoke the respect for her colleagues and the institution; others oppose the complex equilibrium between the duty of discretion, which is demanded of public servants in France, and freedom of expression. The book, sold with an insolent belly band promising to tell “How to work 35 hours… a month” was a commercial success. The author was reinstated in her administration.