Blues for a Black Cat & Other Stories

Blues for a Black Cat & Other Stories gathers the short fiction of Boris Vian, translated by Julia Older. The stories first appeared in French in 1949 under the title Les Fourmis. They are set in a skewed version of the real world. A jazzman on his deathbed sells his sweat, a cat speaks with a British accent, and a piano mixes a cocktail whenever someone plays Mood Indigo.

The collection is short fiction in the form of fables. The voice is cynical and mocking, and the tone runs from gallows humor to elaborate wordplay. Beneath the absurd surface, the stories take aim at human weakness and pretension. They point to an emptiness under the polish of civilized life.

The book carries the feel of its time and place: postwar France, jazz clubs, and the coded, anarchic spirit of rebellion that Vian's writing is known for. Encounters are goofy and unpredictable, and the pieces read as verbal riffs as much as plotted tales.

Vian (1920 to 1959) trained as an engineer and played jazz trumpet, and he became a major literary figure in France during and after World War II. This is a book for readers who enjoy dark comedy, surreal invention and language that plays by its own rules.