I had trouble coming up with a title for this post, which is really little more than an excuse to link to Jeff Baker's erudite review of Acid Christ: Ken Kesey, LSD & The Politics of Ecstasy by Mark Christensen. I link because the conversation turned (briefly) to those lovable hippies and their scribes: Kesey, Vonnegut, Heller, Brautigan, Robbins. Hm. All guys, and most of 'em too old to actually be hippies.
Who am I missing -- besides Erica Jong?
rE..."most of 'em too old to actually be hippies"...seems Mr Brautigan had a strong dislike for hippies. As I'd opinionated earlier, I am not a fan, so I'll let the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti speak for me when he said of him, "As an editor I was always waiting for Richard to grow up as a writer. It seems to me he was essentially a naïf, and I don't think he cultivated that childishness, I think it came naturally. It was like he was much more in tune with the trout in America than with people."
ReplyDeleteTrout Fishing in America indeed.
To your list....wonder if you may be able to add Jim Harrison & Thomas McGuane? Sort of Kick-ass hippies, I guess....and, of course, Hunter Thompson would have to join that fray...
Harrison and McGuane for sure, and Thompson too. The curiosity remains, however: these guys are all older than most of the (formerly) long-haired participants.
ReplyDeleteExcellent use of the Ferlinghetti Trump, by the way.
Pynchon (d'oh!)
ReplyDeleteTolkien!
ReplyDelete