Gilbert CESBRON (Paris 1913-1979), Catholic writer. - Lot 132

Gilbert CESBRON (Paris 1913-1979), Catholic writer. Signed manuscript of 2 1/2 leaves in-4, in black ink, in his very legible handwriting, on typical yellow notebook sheets, lined and marked, with erasures and additions. In this manuscript, Cesbron deplores the importance given to cars, particularly American cars, and the image they project of their owners. He begins as follows: "It seems to me high time to say that American cars are becoming more ridiculous every year; and that a civilization in which one's worth is measured by the surface area occupied by one's automobile in the parking lot is not only perishable but rotten. It's the Civilization of the Trunk. (...) It's all about appearing to be something you're not, thanks to the size of your car. A little guy at the wheel of a Cadillac quickly imagines that he's the imposing one... it exempts him from having to prove his worth." And ends with: "these cars, each of which is larger than Louis Renault's workshop and cost more than Edouard Branly's laboratory..., come on! it's in the logic of the times that they extend the empire of their rear trunk a little more each year..." Gilbert Cesbron.