The Perfectionist (English)

Bernard Loiseau was a celebrated three-star chef when--to the horror of his close and loving family, not to mention the culinary world--he shot himself in 2003 at his home near his restaurant in Saulieu, the Burgundy region southeast of Paris. An entrepreneur in the field of top-quality frozen entrées, Loiseau managed to be a success in everything he tackled. However, he was also a fragile, driven, deeply disturbed man with a vulnerable ego: debt and some setbacks (like the demotion of his restaurant by two points in the Guide Michelin) sent him spiraling down into a depression from which he could not emerge. This fascinating book chronicles both his rise and his fall. minimize