Can this souffle rise twice? Two years after his quixotic and at times chaotic presidency was killed off by Francois Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy, 59, is at it again, his election to the leadership of the center-right UMP party in late November setting the stage for another tilt at France's top job in 2017. But a book published to acclaim in France has cast fresh doubts on his character just as attention has turned to alternatives to the unpopular Hollande. In Comediefrancaise, former Sarkozy adviser Georges-Marc Benamou paints Sarkozy as a man consumed by jealousy and fits of violence: As president, for instance, he went months without meeting prime minister Francois Fillon, a hated rival, in person. France today faces many of the same problems it did in 2007, including sluggish growth and chronically high unemployment.To return to the Elysee Palace, Sarkozy will need to convince voters that he has a plan to reform not just the economy but himself as well.
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