From Publishers Weekly
Djian's five novels have won acclaim in Europe, and the present one was a bestseller later adapted into an offbeat film. It's not likely, however, that this tedious and melodramatic on-the-road novel of the most formless kind will have much impact here. The story revolves around the love affair between a drifter with an unpublished novel to his credit and a beautiful girl with itchy feet who, for no discernible reason (Djian doesn't seem to believe in reasons), goes from such eccentricities as pouring paint over a car and torching a house to self-destructive madness. Her passion-driven lover follows her from place to place (none identified), flattered by her faith in his literary talents and ready to try his hand at practically anything to keep the affair afloatplumbing, housepainting, pizza-making, selling pianos and, finally, armed robbery. The lovers fail to inspire credibility, or even interest, the events smack more of fantasy than reality and every so often the generally sloppy prose sinks to the level of "A smile spread over her face like an atomic bomb." Here is one disciple Kerouac would have disclaimed.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
An X-rated novel for readers who like X-rated movies. Of course, the novel came first (the French film Betty Blue was released recently in this country). Set in the United States, it is a French counterpart of Kerouac or Oates at their most complacently demoralizing. It is so authentically translated that it sounds as if written in English, and considering how derivative it is, it might as well have been. The narrator is a writer of the James Jones variety, and Betty is his victim and victimizer. Their saga of mutual abuse reaches a closure with her insanity. A best seller in France, this novel holds serious interest only for popular culture. Marilyn Gaddis Rose, SUNY at Binghamton
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.