wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "shempmcgurk"
> <shempmcgurk@> wrote:
> > --- In [email protected], TurquoiseB <no_reply@>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Wanna hear a great Tom Wolfe story? :-)
> > >
> > > I wasn't there for this one personally, but I know
> > > a couple of people who were and they vouch for its
> > > accuracy. Well, Tom decided he wanted to write a
> > > book on all these crazy hippies, so he managed to
> > > meet Kesey and get invited to the farm in Springfield,
> > > and then on the bus and to some of the other wacky
> > > places they went. But the whole time Tom is doing
> > > his New York number, which means that every day, in
> > > the midst of these stoned hippies, wearing everything
> > > from tie-dye to naked, he's walking around in his
> > > white suit, the one he's famous for.
> > >
> > > This goes on for some time, with Tom recording all
> > > the stuff he sees around him but not really being
> > > part of it. Finally, the guys on the farm had to
> > > move this enormous, wood-burning, pot-bellied stove
> > > from the barn into one of the houses. It was heavy.
> > > So heavy that the guys who lived there on the farm
> > > couldn't lift it, so they called to Tom for help.
> > > He pitched in, and between them they got the cast-
> > > iron stove to its new location.
> > >
> > > Then Tom looks down at his white New York suit and
> > > it's *covered* with black soot. Covered. He's stand-
> > > ing there, shocked, and Kesey notices and says,
> > > "Well...y'know Tom...you can't mess with it without
> > > gettin' some of it on ya."
> > >
> > > Everyone cracks up, including Tom Wolfe. He fit in
> > > better after that.
> > >
> > > > We had a similar scene in England
> > > > in the 80's with some really heavy psychedelic bands, magic
> > > > mushrooms and free festivals every weekend, much fun.
> > >
> > > Indeed. T'was a magical time...
> >
> >
> > I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know.
> >
> > But I tend to believe what Robert Crumb says about the Sixties
and
> > it is something to the effect: the only good appeal of the
Sixties
> > was all the free love they were promising but when I showed up I
> > didn't get any anyway.
>
> I did, so I have no complaints. :-)
>
> > He hated the Sixties and he hated Rock and Roll.
>
> You should see Robert's collection of records -- he has
> literally thousands of 78s. He hasn't liked much of
> any music produced after 1930. :-)
>
> > For all the talk of free love and the counterculure and the
> > breaking
> > down of barriers and all that, I found that Hippies were more
into
> > their appearances and cliques than any staid conservative-
looking
> > guy like Tom Wolfe. The counterculture was supposed to be about
> > what's in your heart and not materialistic things but it was the
> > Hippies who were very, very tribal when it came to what you
looked
> > like...and if you didn't look like them, they would shun you.
> >
> > Indeed, your anecdote above, Barry, speaks to that. Just
because
> > Wolfe wore a white suit and tie, he wasn't fully accepted; he
had
> > to get it dirty before he was.
>
> Naaah. It was Tom who held back and refused to be
> part of things; that was the whole point of the
> story and of Kesey's comment, and as far as I can
> tell, the reality of the situation. Tom Wolfe
> wanted to be an "impartial observer" for the purposes
> of his book, but the nature of the subject matter
> *required* partiality, *required* gettin' in there
> and doin' the things (and the drugs) you were writing
> about.
>From the way you describe the group above, for all their alleged
sophistication, all they were doing was engaging in peer group
pressure: unless you do what we're doing, you can't be one of us.
It's also the pathology of weak, group-think drug addicts.
To write about something does not require that one partake in or do
the subject matter at hand...if that were so, one could never write
about serial killing or other horrible things that are, necessarily,
written about.
> As a result, his book (as much as I like parts
> of it) was to some extent a superficial look at the
> surface of that period, not a real picture of what
> it was like.
>
> The only chapter in the book (Kesey down in Mexico)
> that rings completely true for me wasn't written by
> Wolfe; Kesey wrote that one.
>
> But it was still a neat book, and captured a little
> of that strange time.
>
> > As well, I think the drug culture of the Sixties created alot of
> > misery and, basically, just a bunch of fucked-up dope addicts.
>
> It's your right to think that. Me, I think it was
> a period of hope. And I tend to value hope more than
> I value cynicism. Your mileage may vary.
>
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