> I don't know how well-known Vian is among Rara-Avians ... but anyone who likes > Jim Thompson should check him out. His surrealist novels -- Foam on the Daze > and Heartsnatcher -- are absolutely astounding. His noir work is tough as nails
> and his surrealist pieces are achingly poignant.
All you'll get out of mentioning Vian on the list is a lot of argument. I think Vian's writing is pure shite and he himself was an arrogant ass and a liar, who held himself up to be an expert on American culture without ever having stepped foot in the U.S. I can tolerate anti-Americanism from French authors, but not when it's just silly stupidity.
Vian's writing reminds me of Henri Rousseau's jungle paintings in which the jungle foliage was modeled on house plants, making them very surreal. But surrealism wasn't Vian's intention. In fact, he tried originally to pass I Spit on Your Graves off as having been written by an American, which is absurd in that the American culture of the late 40s he portrays is so faux as to be almost unrecognizable.
Jeff
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