Les Nouvelles Confessions

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‘This is what I have done and this is what has been done to me…’ So begins an extraordinary, candid story of John James Todd, a Scotsman born in 1899, who presents himself as one of the great self-appointed geniuses of the twentieth century. His life is marked by a rich and diverse career, showcasing remarkable successes alongside dramatic failures. Narrated from the perspective of an aging man in self-imposed exile, Todd reveals the secrets of his intriguing life. Starting with his bizarre boyhood and schooldays in Scotland, we follow his incredible experiences during the First World War, his tumultuous journey through 1920s Berlin, his time in Mexico in 1939, and the Allied invasion of St. Tropez, culminating in Los Angeles during the McCarthy era. Todd is a complex character—charming yet exasperating, shrewd yet foolish, vain yet disarmingly honest. While we may question some of his accounts, we must acknowledge his conclusion: ‘I have done all that being-human business, all right.’ Through Todd’s erratic path, we navigate the chaos of three-quarters of a century, uncovering curious facts about Jean-Jacques Rousseau and even the art of making the perfect dry martini.