fureverywhere
beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
- Location
- Northern NJ, USA
When I was a kid our house was brimming with books. I was basically an only kid and spent hours reading daily. There was everything from Time Life collections to magazines, newspapers, the latest dime novels. My Dad went for more serious biographies and the classics. My Mom enjoyed The Royal Family and UK history. In between was every other topic you could imagine. Often I would read books above my understanding at the time.
There was a series...This Fabulous Century...excellent set of books if you can get your hands on them. I was maybe seven or eight and I could tell you cultural fun facts from 1900 to the early 1960's. But some books went completely over my understanding. One of the first serious books was a Richard Wright anthology. I mean I understood the actions and could read the words...but I was a sheltered kid...beatings, drunkards, a brothel, the callousness regarding race. I read every word but really didn't get it yet.
Another was " A State of Heat" by Sheila Graham. I knew the name F. Scott Fitzgerald. I knew he was a writer. I knew that apparently the author had a hot fling with him...but okay. Then yet another book that completely went over my head. Honey Harlow's autobiography...she was born small town and through a series of adventures becomes a star stripper, marries Lenny Bruce and obviously went on to outlive him. To the average ten year old before the internet...a year in prison, the stripper circuit, drag artists, bawdy houses, drugs, Lenny's political humor that was considered obscene for the day.
Dang, he got arrested for freedom of speech and now all we have is "Adult Swim"? If he could have lived another decade he would have been celebrated for the genius he was. Richard Wright and James Baldwin were phenomenally timeless writers. I've reread all my childhood books again with an incredibly new appreciation. Even " Honey" is an entertaining story I'm reading right now. Through the miracle of the internet you can track down out of print books easily. Oh one more thought...I have reread " A State of Heat" since then and Sheila Graham was basically a twaddle head...she'd be writing for the National Enquirer if she were alive now.
There was a series...This Fabulous Century...excellent set of books if you can get your hands on them. I was maybe seven or eight and I could tell you cultural fun facts from 1900 to the early 1960's. But some books went completely over my understanding. One of the first serious books was a Richard Wright anthology. I mean I understood the actions and could read the words...but I was a sheltered kid...beatings, drunkards, a brothel, the callousness regarding race. I read every word but really didn't get it yet.
Another was " A State of Heat" by Sheila Graham. I knew the name F. Scott Fitzgerald. I knew he was a writer. I knew that apparently the author had a hot fling with him...but okay. Then yet another book that completely went over my head. Honey Harlow's autobiography...she was born small town and through a series of adventures becomes a star stripper, marries Lenny Bruce and obviously went on to outlive him. To the average ten year old before the internet...a year in prison, the stripper circuit, drag artists, bawdy houses, drugs, Lenny's political humor that was considered obscene for the day.
Dang, he got arrested for freedom of speech and now all we have is "Adult Swim"? If he could have lived another decade he would have been celebrated for the genius he was. Richard Wright and James Baldwin were phenomenally timeless writers. I've reread all my childhood books again with an incredibly new appreciation. Even " Honey" is an entertaining story I'm reading right now. Through the miracle of the internet you can track down out of print books easily. Oh one more thought...I have reread " A State of Heat" since then and Sheila Graham was basically a twaddle head...she'd be writing for the National Enquirer if she were alive now.