Pas facile de faire état des cinquante livres les plus cotés du XXe siècle. Selon un résultat de 6000 Français, Beigbeder s'y risque: il fait une présentation du livre, de son intrigue, de la raison de sa notoriété, puis de son appréciation personnelle. C'est rapide, léger, mais surtout coquin et ludique. Il s'agit de donner le goût de la lecture et non de s'apesentir sur les mérites litéraires. Les références à sa propre absence du classement deviennnent un peu lassante à la fin, mais c'est la seule réelle faiblesse. ( )

Beigbeder talks about the books that were chosen as the 50 best books of the 20th century by people answering to a survey conducted by le Monde & FNAC. The reviews are short, include a bit of information on the author & a verdict by Beigbeder.

I have to admit I didn't read every review, only those of books I'd heard about before. The pieces are mildly amusing, but hardly insightful. In my opinion Beigbeder tries too hard to be funny and also too hard to shock with his little vulgarities. In between the jokes and pieces of information on the author I got the impression he knew what he was talking about, but I didn't like his style.