Born into a very poor family in rural northern France, Eddy Bellegueule knows he is different from those around him, and not only because he is gay. On Saturday evenings, Eddy and a friend go to the "big" supermarket and just wander around, thinking of how grand it would be to actually shop there. Ignorance, poverty, and small doses of violence are common in Eddy's limited world, and he wants to change his life. Impressed by educated, wealthy, stylish men, he transforms himself--changes his name, straightens his teeth, and improves his hairline. But the changes go beyond the superficial; Eddy also adheres to a strict, rigorous course of philosophical and historical studies that eventually lands him a place at a prestigious university in Paris. With the necessary help of friends Elena, Didier, and Ludovic along the way, Eddy successfully transforms himself into Édouard Louis and becomes a published author, leaving behind his small village and its inhabitants. VERDICT Louis's (History of Violence) brilliant autobiographical novel set off fireworks when it was published in France. This fast page-turner will stir emotions and quicken heartbeats as Eddy creates his ideal self-image.--Lisa Rohrbaugh

This coming-of-age story introduces readers to 17-year-old Eddy Belleguele, a closeted gay teen who lives with his working-class family in a small town in a bleak northern France. An upper-middle-class girl named Elena befriends Eddy and "civilizes" him. Desperate nevertheless to escape his home and change his life, Eddy travels to the nearest big city, Amiens, where he meets the philosopher and writer Didier Eribon. The famous author becomes a kind of mentor to Eddy, who dreams of becoming an intellectual himself. Eddy's desire for change continues when he is admitted to the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Having long dreamed of being rich and taking revenge on his past life, Eddy soon begins dating wealthy and powerful men. He realizes another dream with the publication of his first novel, The End of Eddy. Not coincidentally, this is also the title of author Louis' own first novel, this book's companion exercise in first-person autofiction. The author shares his character's name and birthplace, Eribon is a real person, etc. Intriguing as it is to imagine what is "real" and what's imagined, these questions don't much enrich what is already a beautifully executed, memorable, and highly recommended novel.

Louis (The End of Eddy) returns with another scorching autobiographical novel, this time drawing on his efforts to break out of isolation and poverty. Eddy Bellegueule (Louis's birth name) grows up in a rural French village rife with racial tension and violence, where his family often has to beg for food. At 14, a drama teacher encourages him to apply to a lycée in Amiens, 30 kilometers away, and he jumps at the chance. At the new school, he befriends a classmate named Elena, who invites him to meals at her family home. There, Eddy learns about cinema and literature and "how not to eat like a peasant." His "new life" allows Édouard--as he renames himself--to "take revenge on childhood" by striving to become a successful author like his mentor Didier, who encourages him to write. He also gets a leg up from a wealthy older man he meets in a bar, who helps him get into an elite Parisian école and pays to have his teeth fixed. Édouard calls his project of transformation a "permanent obsession," as he regularly feels like an imposter and worries he'll fail at school and have to return home. Having worked as an escort in Amiens and Paris, he expresses a singular view about the trade ("In making love with a man I rejected all the values of my milieu, I became bourgeois"). With frank prose and staggering insights, Louis makes the story of his metamorphosis feel vital and alive. This is irresistible. Agent: Jacqueline Ko, Wylie Agency. (Mar.)