This is the book that warped my twelve year old head when it came out in 1968. This & the Beatles' White album probably did more to shape my world view than any Civics class in Jr. High. What an education. Tom Wolfe's prose galvanized me with the history of the Sixties counter-culture as parlayed by Ken Kesey & his band of Merry Pranksters. What was amazing at the time was that the Sixties weren't even over yet. This seemed like current events in Wolfe's reporting. Many people found this style of "new journalism" to be a passing fad, but I've read this book almost annually, & still find it fresh & crisply written. This & Hunter S. Thompson's output from the same period have become the standard for reporting in almost any medium, so obviously they were doing something right. You decide. Should be taught in every creative writing class.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Tootling the Multitudes...
This is the book that warped my twelve year old head when it came out in 1968. This & the Beatles' White album probably did more to shape my world view than any Civics class in Jr. High. What an education. Tom Wolfe's prose galvanized me with the history of the Sixties counter-culture as parlayed by Ken Kesey & his band of Merry Pranksters. What was amazing at the time was that the Sixties weren't even over yet. This seemed like current events in Wolfe's reporting. Many people found this style of "new journalism" to be a passing fad, but I've read this book almost annually, & still find it fresh & crisply written. This & Hunter S. Thompson's output from the same period have become the standard for reporting in almost any medium, so obviously they were doing something right. You decide. Should be taught in every creative writing class.
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What a great book. Right up there with "Helium" in my book.
ReplyDeleteSuperb book. I have a paperback copy for reading and a hardcover first edition to fawn over and pet. Turned out to be not too bad an investment, either.
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