Viper in the Fist (French Vipère au Poing) is a novel by Hervé Bazin.
It is the first and best known of a trilogy, the rest being La Mort du Petit Cheval and Le Cri de la Chouette. These three novels are largely autobiographical.
When published in 1948, Vipère au Poing was an immense success and also the cause of a considerable scandal. It is nowadays considered a classic novel in France, read by students in high school.[1][2]