The Bad Life (French: La Mauvaise Vie) is a 2005 French novel by Frédéric Mitterrand, the Minister of Culture and Communication of France. The novel is partly autobiographical but fictionalized to a certain extent.^[1] The novel has been praised by critics for its "literary boldness" and "provocative examination of homosexuality".^[2]

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In 2009, the novel caused controversy for its description of gay prostitution in Thailand,^[3] and Frederic Mitterrand was then accused of being a paedophile.^[4]