À_l'ami_qui_ne_m'a_pas_sauvé_la_vie
À l'ami qui ne m'a pas sauvé la vie (English: "To the friend who did not save my life") is a novel by Hervé Guibert first published by Gallimard in 1990. It is a frank portrayal of the physical and psychological suffering caused by AIDS. The book is considered to be a work of autofiction[1] as although it clearly mimics the last years of Guibert's own life, names are changed and it makes no claims to be truthful to real events.
It won the Prix Colette prize in 1990.
The publication of the novel landed Guibert an important television interview on the show Apostrophes on which he discussed AIDS and his novel.[2] By 1994, 400,000 copies of the novel were sold. Guibert wrote two sequels: Le Protocole Compassionel and L'homme au chapeau rouge.