I always thought I’d had the most cool, adventurous life, Susie, but you’ve got me beat! No one had ever mentioned the Castaneda reference till now, and not only you but someone I don’t think I know., Tom O’Brien, who not only gets that reference, he remembers a short story I had in American Review. I feel like I’m rising from the dead. Or from the remainder table?
Blanche, I think you should have titled this, “When Vivian Claire Met David Bowie” haha! Here is my trivia to ad: My father was Carlos Castaneda’s Anthropology grad school advisor at UCLA in the early 70s when Carlos was a hapless grad student who couldn’t get his thesis done, and would procrastinate by hiding out in all-night movie theaters. When he finally had a final draft, my dad called up UC Books, and said, “This is bigger than a dissertation. You need to publish this, STAT.” And they did. And that is the Yaqui Way of Knowledge.
Imber the first time I saw the cover of a paperback edition of The Redneck Way of Knowledge: the double-joke riff on "A *Yaqui* Way of Knowledge"; the portrait of the Artist ..hands-on-hips grin (hint of ferocity there). Between the covers, I learned, among other things, about the protagonist's deployment of hypnotic techniques for seduction at university. (Never had the nerve to try it myself.)
It took a while to connect the author to an earlier short story I'd read in Ted Solotaroff's "American Review..#?"...with a befuddled male getting memorably topped by (choke) a woman.
Wow! Yes, you got all the references, and I'm amazed... I've been surprised that the title of Redneck still works since no one (but us I suspect) is old enough to remember the Yaqui Way of Knowledge, and you even connected the American Review story. No one's ever mentioned that story to me! But I reread Shannon Encountering last year and thought, hmm, it's not bad! Though I doubt anyone now would know what an encounter group is....If I could make the writing sharper, I might put it on the stack someday.....Anyway, who are you??
Just a septuagenarian bloke north of the border, wot used to read a lot, lol. Not *bookish*, really: short attention span! More bookOID, truth be told. But whilst taking courses in sociology/anthropology in the early 70s, I came across Castenada's early books, and was intrigued. My anthropology prof didn't laugh at my interest, exactly..but was clearly skeptical. Later on, I came across Richard deMille's* two books about Castenada's work: deMille really did a tour- de-force of forensic literary criticism showing that Castenada was a literary prankster of the first order. "Don Juan: A Jaqui Way of Knowledge" was an inspired parody of a sub-branch of the sociology of knowledge, enthnomethodology. If I got that right! C. ditched the academic jargon in his later books, which read more like trippy travelogues, & rode that joke/hippo for many years..up to his death really , never outright *admitting* what he'd been up to. The story had a sad coda: many women who had been intensely part of his circle, died or disappeared after his death, possibly suicides.
Sooo, hardly a *mystery*, why *your* book's title would jump out at me, BB! A *thigh-slapper* of a title!
And - if I may be so bold - TRWoK is a better book, a more honest book, a more illuminating and *useful* book to a young person (*anyone* really) trying to come to terms with their past, their upbringing, their many "selves".
As Philip Roth - or one of his characters - said (paraphrasing): "there's no either/OR..only *and*, * and* *and..."
PS .Interesting wrinkle about Bill Bright's encouragement, early on. SB's writings about the Old Man paint a picture of a sensitive, scrupulous, impish, unconventional academic. Touching to read about SB's mom, too.
* PPS Richard DeMille was an interesting character too. Raised in the famous director's household; I seem to remember he was the "secret"child of a 20' s actress Laura Moon, & C. B. DeMille's brother. Easy to see why he would be interested in questions of identity..secret selves. Wrote a book:" Put Your Mother on The Ceiling: Children's Imagination Games".
You are really fun to talk to.....I'm posting today a revised "Aunt Thelma at the Rockettes." I've cleaned it up, tightened it, and restored the original title. And I'm getting pretty good at this reading thing, better at it than what I did for Audible, where I was intimidated.....I'd love your feedback.....I haven't read DeMille, but yes, I do know Castaneda was a fraud, which is too bad, because I did so want it to be true!
Thanks for your wonderful writing and for being a friend all these years later. xxL
I always thought I’d had the most cool, adventurous life, Susie, but you’ve got me beat! No one had ever mentioned the Castaneda reference till now, and not only you but someone I don’t think I know., Tom O’Brien, who not only gets that reference, he remembers a short story I had in American Review. I feel like I’m rising from the dead. Or from the remainder table?
Blanche, I think you should have titled this, “When Vivian Claire Met David Bowie” haha! Here is my trivia to ad: My father was Carlos Castaneda’s Anthropology grad school advisor at UCLA in the early 70s when Carlos was a hapless grad student who couldn’t get his thesis done, and would procrastinate by hiding out in all-night movie theaters. When he finally had a final draft, my dad called up UC Books, and said, “This is bigger than a dissertation. You need to publish this, STAT.” And they did. And that is the Yaqui Way of Knowledge.
You have had an astounding life!
Imber the first time I saw the cover of a paperback edition of The Redneck Way of Knowledge: the double-joke riff on "A *Yaqui* Way of Knowledge"; the portrait of the Artist ..hands-on-hips grin (hint of ferocity there). Between the covers, I learned, among other things, about the protagonist's deployment of hypnotic techniques for seduction at university. (Never had the nerve to try it myself.)
It took a while to connect the author to an earlier short story I'd read in Ted Solotaroff's "American Review..#?"...with a befuddled male getting memorably topped by (choke) a woman.
Wow! Yes, you got all the references, and I'm amazed... I've been surprised that the title of Redneck still works since no one (but us I suspect) is old enough to remember the Yaqui Way of Knowledge, and you even connected the American Review story. No one's ever mentioned that story to me! But I reread Shannon Encountering last year and thought, hmm, it's not bad! Though I doubt anyone now would know what an encounter group is....If I could make the writing sharper, I might put it on the stack someday.....Anyway, who are you??
Just a septuagenarian bloke north of the border, wot used to read a lot, lol. Not *bookish*, really: short attention span! More bookOID, truth be told. But whilst taking courses in sociology/anthropology in the early 70s, I came across Castenada's early books, and was intrigued. My anthropology prof didn't laugh at my interest, exactly..but was clearly skeptical. Later on, I came across Richard deMille's* two books about Castenada's work: deMille really did a tour- de-force of forensic literary criticism showing that Castenada was a literary prankster of the first order. "Don Juan: A Jaqui Way of Knowledge" was an inspired parody of a sub-branch of the sociology of knowledge, enthnomethodology. If I got that right! C. ditched the academic jargon in his later books, which read more like trippy travelogues, & rode that joke/hippo for many years..up to his death really , never outright *admitting* what he'd been up to. The story had a sad coda: many women who had been intensely part of his circle, died or disappeared after his death, possibly suicides.
Sooo, hardly a *mystery*, why *your* book's title would jump out at me, BB! A *thigh-slapper* of a title!
And - if I may be so bold - TRWoK is a better book, a more honest book, a more illuminating and *useful* book to a young person (*anyone* really) trying to come to terms with their past, their upbringing, their many "selves".
As Philip Roth - or one of his characters - said (paraphrasing): "there's no either/OR..only *and*, * and* *and..."
PS .Interesting wrinkle about Bill Bright's encouragement, early on. SB's writings about the Old Man paint a picture of a sensitive, scrupulous, impish, unconventional academic. Touching to read about SB's mom, too.
* PPS Richard DeMille was an interesting character too. Raised in the famous director's household; I seem to remember he was the "secret"child of a 20' s actress Laura Moon, & C. B. DeMille's brother. Easy to see why he would be interested in questions of identity..secret selves. Wrote a book:" Put Your Mother on The Ceiling: Children's Imagination Games".
That's enough scribbling!
Be well!
You are really fun to talk to.....I'm posting today a revised "Aunt Thelma at the Rockettes." I've cleaned it up, tightened it, and restored the original title. And I'm getting pretty good at this reading thing, better at it than what I did for Audible, where I was intimidated.....I'd love your feedback.....I haven't read DeMille, but yes, I do know Castaneda was a fraud, which is too bad, because I did so want it to be true!