In collaboration with Gallimard and INA, Le Monde has brought together ten interviews conducted by Bernard Pivot for his television program "Apostrophes" between 1975 and 1987. Among many unforgettable moments: the memories of Nabokov on Tsarist Russia; Albert Cohen, evoking his childhood friend Marcel Pagnol; Claude Levi-Strauss recalling his early years as an ethnologist; Dumézil discovering an etymological dictionary of Latin; Simenon comparing his creative genius to the patience of the craftsman...and the silence of Marguerite Duras. Pivot recalls these encounters In his introductions to each interview. The accompanying book contains selections from the Le Monde archives: chronologies, profiles, reviews, analysis, and original documents.