The problem with Derrida was seeing him as a literary theorist / authority figure rather than as a writer. The reception of Blanchot never had that problem, since there was no school of Blanchot in the US academy. ( A writer doesn't need to make falsifiable claims. ) Of course, Derrida is to blame for encouraging a school of Derrida. It is not reasonable to expect him to have said "don't imitate me, don't be influenced by me," but he could have done a little more to mark his distance.

French theory is officially dead now.