A model of clarity, grace, and intelligence, Fran ois Ricard's book joins the great French tradition of the literary essay as a meditation on the writing of Milan Kundera. Agn s's Final Afternoon imitates the protagonist of Kundera's novel Immortality on the last afternoon of her life. Like all readers of fiction, Agn s steps out of her car -- out of the world of planned routes, responsibilities, and social self -- and gives herself up to...