The biography of the legendary Belgian-French king of pulp fiction ( 1903-1989 ) , who wrote more than 400 novels and bedded even more women ( he estimated 10,000 ) , is deemed masterful , absorbing , and definitive ( Deirdre Bair , the New York Times Book Review ) . Simenon wins praise for its defense of Simenon 's oeuvre , often dismissed as hackery , and for its candid treatment of his misogyny and anti-Semitism .
The Belgian-French king of pulp fiction was known as a womanizer .