Then and Now: The Harmony of the Instantaneous All is now live and again with another nice cover design by Michael Irvin.
Parts of this novel were written in my 20s, not long after that extraordinary spring of 1970 at the University of Kansas. It took me years, decades, to come up with the right point of view and technique for its telling. It works for me. It will be interesting to find out if it works for anybody else.
In terms of reality: I really did participate in the occupation of Memorial Stadium during the ROTC parade, which shut that event down. (I watch Occupy Wall Street happenings and, boy, am I taken back.) I really did see the Kansas Union burning. I really was a philosophy grad student (only one year, having quickly realized the limits of my poor brain's abilities in that area). I really was a pretty good pinball player. I really was in Lawrence and violated curfew when the Kansas National Guard occupied the college town.
The driver of a fully loaded propane truck really did find a package of dynamite sticks wedged between his dual rear tires before he took off one morning for his deliveries.
I really did, but as a journalist, follow the casting, recitals and performances of the Orestia. In the book, as Stan Nelson tries to write his head out of the 1960s, he contacts the play members to show them what he has written to see if he's gotten things right. Now that Then and Now is published, I'll really be trying to do that, too. I still have the program and the names and with Facebook, etc., I may find them and get them to read this novel. If it works for them, I really will have achieved something.
Haven't tried commenting to my own post! Here is the link to a very nice review for Then and Now:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MRA588