Counterculture rebel Richard Fariña died on the cusp of fame. His only novel remains essential reading for literary psychonauts with a penchant for the absurd
I was on a cross country bus trip in the 80s reading Electric Kool-Aide Acid Trip and someone approached me and said "Stop taking that pretender book and read this and handed me Been Down So Long. I loved it, but it's a hard hyperbolic sell to most modern tastes I've found. Also don't forget The earliest copies of Gravity's Rainbow were displayed to Farina and later, dedicated to TP's wife, leading to much theorizing of who Thomas Pynchon was😳
I hadn't heard of this book and am very excited to read it. My local library has a copy, but apparently, it can't be loaned out. I shall have to have a little chat with those cranky librarians. I don't imagine the conversation will benefit me. Thanks for bringing the novel to my attention, though.
Fascinating work. I read this a few weeks after it was published, and after he had died; I had photographed him a lot at Newport the previous year (June of 1965.) It made a great impression on me. I miss it..and him. And I still eat feta every week.
Mariella , I enjoyed your article. I read 'Been down so low...' when it came out. Yeah, I'm that old. I enjoyed the antics of the hero, Gnossos (rhymes with nauseous?) to a point. Won't give it away, but his final act of playful revenge turned me off, but not enough to give up on the book. Yeah, it was a fun read. And, having been riding bikes (Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki) since '66, I was fascinated by how he went out... But that didn't cause me to give up riding motorcycles. I'll be brief. I've written a memoir (The Fake Memoir of a Mid-List Writer), so far unpublished, that covers the same period, roughly, 1969-1976. The book was long-listed by Unleash Lit, and short listed by the 2024 Nicholas Schaffner Music in Literature Award (they recently notified myself and the four other shortlisted authors that there would be no Award this year. (That's just the way the ball bounces in the publishing world.) It's still sitting in the queues of about eight publishing houses, its author biting his nails and praying for a contract. (I don't have an agent at this point)
So, sorry to go on, but I was wondering if you knew anyone in publishing who would want to take a look at it.
I was on a cross country bus trip in the 80s reading Electric Kool-Aide Acid Trip and someone approached me and said "Stop taking that pretender book and read this and handed me Been Down So Long. I loved it, but it's a hard hyperbolic sell to most modern tastes I've found. Also don't forget The earliest copies of Gravity's Rainbow were displayed to Farina and later, dedicated to TP's wife, leading to much theorizing of who Thomas Pynchon was😳
Don't forget Tom Robbins.
People have heard of him. Hardly no one has heard of Farina.
FYI, many people my age know this book and author 👵🏻😉
I collect vinyl albums and I have one of Richard and Mimi's. It's okay. I like Ian and Sylvia way better.
I hadn't heard of this book and am very excited to read it. My local library has a copy, but apparently, it can't be loaned out. I shall have to have a little chat with those cranky librarians. I don't imagine the conversation will benefit me. Thanks for bringing the novel to my attention, though.
Fascinating work. I read this a few weeks after it was published, and after he had died; I had photographed him a lot at Newport the previous year (June of 1965.) It made a great impression on me. I miss it..and him. And I still eat feta every week.
Mariella , I enjoyed your article. I read 'Been down so low...' when it came out. Yeah, I'm that old. I enjoyed the antics of the hero, Gnossos (rhymes with nauseous?) to a point. Won't give it away, but his final act of playful revenge turned me off, but not enough to give up on the book. Yeah, it was a fun read. And, having been riding bikes (Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki) since '66, I was fascinated by how he went out... But that didn't cause me to give up riding motorcycles. I'll be brief. I've written a memoir (The Fake Memoir of a Mid-List Writer), so far unpublished, that covers the same period, roughly, 1969-1976. The book was long-listed by Unleash Lit, and short listed by the 2024 Nicholas Schaffner Music in Literature Award (they recently notified myself and the four other shortlisted authors that there would be no Award this year. (That's just the way the ball bounces in the publishing world.) It's still sitting in the queues of about eight publishing houses, its author biting his nails and praying for a contract. (I don't have an agent at this point)
So, sorry to go on, but I was wondering if you knew anyone in publishing who would want to take a look at it.
Thank you and best to you in your writing!
great writing by Mariella Rudi /
someone I hadn't read / thanks
for the intro!
Got a new paperback to find
This is a fun find. Adding to my goodreads
Symphonic prose. Love it. I’ll have to read your stuff and Down so Long too. Thanks!