French Literature Companion:
François Billetdoux
Billetdoux, François (1927-91). French novelist and dramatist. His three novels include Royal Garden Blues (1957), a satire of artistic and journalistic milieux, but he is better known as a dramatist whose popularity was at its height in the 1950s and 1960s. Le Comportement des époux Bredburry (1960) and, more particularly, Va donc chez Torpe (1961) were amongst his biggest successes, exemplifying the whimsical mode which he adopted, combining sardonic social comment with humorous situations, often focusing on the difficulties of communication, yet never falling into the camp of the Theatre of the Absurd. He has also been interested in the cinema and has played an important role in French radio.
[Elizabeth Fallaize]
