Bonjour Tristesse
Bernstein published two détourned novels through Buchet/Chastel, whose moderate success helped her convince her publisher to publish Debord's major theoretical text, "The Society of the Spectacle" (1967), despite its non-commercial nature. In "All The King's Horses" ("Tous les chevaux du roi", 1960; republished Paris: Allia, 2004) and "The Night" ("La Nuit", 1961; republished by Allia in 2013), Bernstein tells the same story in two different ways, adapting the plot of "Les Liaisons dangereuses" to create a "'roman à clef" despite itself' featuring characters based on herself, Debord and his lover Michèle Mochot. "All The Kings Horses" deliberately mimics the style popularized Francoise Sagan in her novel "Bonjour Tristesse" (1954), which scandalized France when it was awarded the Prix des Critiques. "The Night" détourns of the avant-garde nouveau-roman style of Alain Robbe-Gillet. Bernstein claims the novels were written as a joke, solely to make money at a time when she and her husband 'were rather skint.' "All the King's Horses" has been translated into English by John Kelsey (Semiotext(e)/Native Agents, 2008) "The Night" has been translated into English by Clodagh Kinsella (Book Works, 2013).