Sales of Pauline Harmange's 'Moi les hommes, je les déteste' skyrocketed after Ralph Zurmély, a special adviser to France's ministry for gender equality, called it an 'ode to misandry [a hatred of men].'
In an email, Zurmély told Monstrograph - the book's publisher - that 'incitement to hatred on the grounds of gender is a criminal offence', and asked the publisher to pull the book from publication 'on pain of criminal prosecution'.
The 25-year-old activist's book argues that 'anger towards men is actually a joyful and emancipatory path, if it is allowed to be expressed', and explores whether women 'have good reason to hate men'.
Monstrograph has denied that the book is an incitement of hatred, and called the book a 'feminist and iconoclastic book' that 'defends misandry as a way of making room for sisterhood'.
Colline Pierre, one of the founders of the micro-publisher run by volunteers, said 'The title is provocative but the language is measured. It is an invitation not to oblige oneself to frequent men or compromise with them.
'At no time does the author incite violence,' she added.
The first 450 printed copies of the book flew off the shelves after Zurmély called for it to be banned. Since the first print run, a further 2,500 copies have been sold.
A larger, so far unnamed publisher, is now set to take the title on and UK publishers are set to be considering translating it into English.
