To young French writers and a large share of the general population, an election to the French Academy has no more relation to literature or life than the changing of the Guard at London's Whitehall. But Academicians themselves, of whom Academician Anatole France said that their literary ineptitude was exceeded only by their skill in intrigue, take it with deadly seriousness. Votes are traded, sponsors courted, wires pulled, ceaseless lobbies conducted in social and political circles, usually evoking more public amusement than concern.
But last fortnight, when the French Academy elected its latest...