We all, male or female, have known shame at some point. Something that was meant to stay secret, hidden, taboo, was revealed, exposed, brought to other people’s attention. Until then, we dealt with it in our own, more or less indulgent, way. Now we suddenly have to answer for it publicly. We are alone, in the spotlight, with everyone looking at us, and their gaze is unbearable. We have gone over the line: the one that defines the social image of ourselves we try to project.
It’s a moment of nudity and of great solitude. A painful moment – and one whose intensity can last a lifetime.
Bodies, sex or physical violence are often at the heart of our shame, because of our sense of modesty. The body responds, blood rushes to your cheeks, your face is on fire... and over the course of our personal histories, landmarks indicating the outer edges of our social comfort zone are created. They are clear, scalpel-sharp limits.
Ten narratives compose this collection of true stories about people describing the most shameful moment in their lives. Charles Gancel, whose cruel irony we already enjoyed in Les œufs, (2004), is in his element. Every story is cleverly told, and the ending comes down like a guillotine every time.

Their greatest shame! Ten true tales in which the reader, a veritable voyeur, hesitates between laughter, embarrassment and compassion. Charles Gancel, in this, his second book of short stories, has a pitiless eye and a poisonous pen.