It won the Prix des Deux Magots, named after a literary café in Paris, and brought him the friendship of authors such as Marcel Aymé and Roger Nimier and the philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre.

In 1953, the young critic Bernard Frank dubbed the novelists Roger Nimier, Jacques Laurent, and Blondin as "les Hussards," a title which stuck.

[3][5] His next novels, Les Enfants du bon Dieu and L'Humeur vagabonde confirmed a distinctive style which critics placed between Stendhal and Jules Renard.

After publishing the well-received novel Un Singe en hiver, Blondin remained an active journalist, but the death of his best friend Roger Nimier prompted him to largely abandon writing fiction for over a decade.

The Tour de France winner, Bernard Hinault, said: Blondin was a bon vivant known for heavy drinking in the Parisian district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, playing at bull-fighting with passing cars and racking up numerous arrests for drunkenness.