Well, I'm both, too, Ken. In fact, I'm probably a real scaredy-cat when
it comes to the kind of behavior Thompson apparently had to enact
rather than just imagine. And you're right, McGuane is still here, &
maybe because, although he considered Thompson a friend, he spent only
so much time with him.
But as a reader, I admired Thompson's willingness to go all the way in
his fiery satiric anger, & to call the assholes as they were, in
public, so to speak, too. Sadly, in terms o that other discussion about
the potential effects of any art/writing/etc, such Telling against the
machine seems not to have all that much force -- although perhaps some
of us saw a bit more clearly through his aviator glasses. Certainly,
the rulers of today deserve someone at least as snarky & truthful (I
mean something other than 'honest' there) as him & his prose...
Doug
Douglas Barbour
Department of English
University of Alberta
Edmonton Alberta T6G 2E5 Canada
(780) 436 3320
http://www.ualberta.ca/~dbarbour/dbhome.htm
Reserved books. Reserved land. Reserved flight.
And still property is theft.
Phyllis Webb
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