Clinging to Life: Charles Aznavour's last book translated and presented in Yerevan

I am a 100% Armenian and a 100% French, legendary French-Armenian singer, song-writer and musician Charles Aznavour said in one of his books.

On the talented crooner's 95th birth anniversary, the publishing house NewMag offered a pleasant surprise to all the Aznavour fans by translating and publishing his last literary endeavor.

In his ninth book entitled Clinging to Life, Aznavour takes a journey into his past but also touches upon actual topics considered vitally important. He talks about misfortunes, success, and happy meetings. The book is perceived as a kind of instructive manual for those who are dedicated to life as much as the artist was in his lifetime.

The presentation, held at the Ararat Brandy Museum, attracted fans who were genuinely interested in Aznavour's creative life. People who had their contribution to the translation efforts delivered speeches at the event. The organizers also gave the floor to His Excellency Jonathan Lacôte, the French ambassador to Armenia. ''One feels highly obliged when translating all that Aznavour had written. He will remain the symbol of the friendship between our countries,'' the diplomat said.

The book has been translated into Armenian by Jacqueline Minasyan and Artak Herikian. What makes it unuqie is the excerpts from interviews that Aznavour gave from time to time, Herikian said. ''They replenish the book, developing, in a sense, a better understandig of what Charles wanted to say by initiating this little effort,'' he told the attendees.

The editor of the translated version is Samvel Gasparyan, who earlier translated Charles Aznavour: The Singer of the Epoch. The Armenian edition of Clinging to Life is available for sale starting from Monday, May 20.