Boris Vian, who passed away in 1959, lives on in the world where personality, wit, great writing, and a man who embraced the 'pop' culture of his time and place (Saint Germain des Pres, Paris) is the supreme ruler. Sadly in a world where one has to compromise to eat and enjoy just the basic comforts, in this context, Vian's work is so much more powerful and meaningful--the concept and enjoyment of youth, jazz, dark nightclubs, bent-up paperbacks that fit in your back pocket, alcohol, the pleasure of sexual encounters, the first sting of love, the beauty of destruction, the sensual pleasure of reading a text and holding a book.