The French Inhaler Lyrics

Lyric discussion by natgry 

Cover art for The French Inhaler lyrics by Warren Zevon

I believe this song is about marilyn monroe...the norman is norman mailer, and I think the whole song is a poke at his biographical work on marilyn monroe.

what I don't get is the "french inhaler" line. I love zevon, but I can't tell if this is just something put in to intone norman mailer, or if it has another meaning.

I have no doubt that he read waugh before writing this song...zevon was hugely influenced by major writers, so I totally agree with scumbagstyle on that one.