Books - The MILF Bible: when Elena Nagapetyan turns vulnerability into an act of resistance

By Mulder, Paris, Fnac Forum des Halles, 22 january 2026

On January 22, 2026, at the Fnac Forum des Halles, Elena Nagapetyan met with her audience for a book signing session for La bible d'une MILF, an illustrated work published the same day by Michel Lafon, which is in line with her direct, autobiographical, and deeply human humor. In the hushed excitement of the bookstore, between bursts of laughter and whispered confidences, the comedian took the time to chat with her readers, sign each copy at length, and talk with sincere emotion about this book, which feels less like a spin-off from her stage act and more like a natural extension of her voice. She told us how writing this book had been a cathartic and liberating experience, a way of putting down on paper what her stand-up already conveys: unfiltered motherhood, loneliness, guilt, the desire to remain a whole woman despite constant demands, and the central idea that runs through the book like a mantra: that the best thing a mother can offer her child is to be happy.

Published as a 176-page illustrated edition, La bible d'une MILF is neither a manual nor a pamphlet, but a fragmented, intimate narrative, nourished by real-life anecdotes and reflections that are often as funny as they are disturbing, in which Elena Nagapetyan deconstructs the myths of sacrificial motherhood with disarming lucidity. The excerpts we were able to read during the book signing are strikingly accurate: the fear of not being a “good mother,” anger at oneself, emotional exhaustion, but also the saving irony that keeps one standing. The author talks about postpartum depression, divorce, desire, and loneliness, without ever seeking gratuitous effect, preferring raw honesty to posturing. The delicate and symbolic illustrations reinforce this message by giving substance to this modern woman, sometimes exhausted, often angry, but always standing tall, who refuses to dissolve into her role as a mother. The book is officially aimed at an adult audience, aged 18 and over, but it resonates far beyond this classification, as it deals with life choices, resilience, and identity.

This book resonates even more strongly when viewed in the context of Elena Nagapetyan's unique journey. Born on September 14, 1987, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, then part of the Soviet Union, she is of Armenian origin and was marked at an early age by exile, poverty, and discrimination. Arriving in France in 2009 without speaking French, she went through marriage, motherhood, postpartum depression, and divorce in just a few years, before taking on a series of odd jobs and gradually discovering humor as a means of expression and survival. After a period in Monaco, where she worked as an assistant to Dmitry Rybolovlev, she threw herself into writing and performing, joined the Jamel Comedy Club in 2022, and became known to the general public thanks to her taboo-free videos on social media, amassing nearly a million followers on Instagram by the end of 2025. Her first one-woman show, Ça valait le coup, which played to sold-out crowds in France and internationally, has become a benchmark, and she will be back on the legendary stage of L'Olympia on May 16, 2026, an event she mentioned with a smile mixing pride and disbelief during our conversation.

What strikes you, both in the pages of the book and during our meeting at Fnac, is the consistency between the woman, the artist, and the author: Elena Nagapetyan never plays a role, she tells her own story, bares her soul, and transforms her flaws into raw material. A columnist on France Inter since 2024, nicknamed “the trash talk pro” for her quick wit, she embraces crude humor that is never gratuitous, always imbued with a deep kindness. La bible d'une MILF (The MILF Bible) is an essential part of her work, a hybrid between confidences, silent stand-up, and a feminist manifesto of everyday life, which extends on paper what her accent, her gaze, and her outspokenness already convey on stage: that you can be a mother, a woman, fragile, angry, funny, and alive, all at the same time, without ever asking for forgiveness.

Many thanks to Elena Nagapetyan for this wonderful, brief encounter.

Photos: Boris Colletier / Mulderville