Description: Set in a bizarre and slightly sinister town where the elderly are auctioned off at an Old Folks Fair, the townspeople assail the priest in hopes of making it rain, and the official town scapegoat bears the shame of the citizens by fishing junk out of the river with his teeth.
Heartsnatcher is both Boris Vian's most playful and most serious work. The main character is Clementine, a mother who punishes her husband for causing her the excruciating pain of giving birth to three babies. As they age, she becomes increasingly obsessed with protecting them, going so far as to build an invisible wall around their property.
Brief description: Vian was an engineer, inventor, jazz trumpeter, actor, recording artist, and prolific writer.
Review Quotes: "Vian's prose is surprisingly accessible, and his fascinating take on the strange logic of human cruelty and inconsistency makes this a worthwhile read." -Publishers Weekly
"This, Vian's last novel before his 1959 death, is a work to be reckoned with." --Booklist