Most alarming for Levy is the imminent publication of a book by Philippe Cohen, the co-author of The Hidden Face of Le Monde, a best-selling and aggressive investigation into the newspaper, which caused a sensation last year. The latest work is thought to stretch to more than 500 pages and to analyse the writer's private life in detail.
Levy refused to make any comment on the biographies when contacted on Thursday, but he has told friends that he is not wounded by the onslaught and that he sees this explosion of interest in him as an enormous compliment, pointing out that never before has a single writer attracted so many biographies in such a short period of time. He says that at 56 he has learnt how to deal with criticism.
"When one attacks BHL one does not attack Bernard-Henri Levy ... BHL is a caricature," Levy said recently.
RSS