Kevin asks:
> were there really protests on the LA streets
> when STAR TREK was cancelled? Somehow it
> seems unlikely...Group protests for cancelled TV
> shows seem seems like a much more recent
> phenomenon
The answer is yes. STAR TREK was where the 'group protests for
cancelled TV shows' phenomenon began. Now, I can't say for sure there
were protests specifically on the streets of LA -- a lot of it took the
form of letter-writing campaigns and such -- but there were big protests
when STAR TREK was cancelled.
As for your other question, about INHERENT VICE itself, I admit I had a
bit of an 'eh' reaction to it. A batch of nice one-liners ("Can I be
frank?"; "How do you know?" "I counted"), but nothing about the book
completely knocked my socks off.
At the risk of sounding heretical (and engaging in some blatant self
promotion), I think Pynchon is up to something very similar to what
Russell Atwood is doing in his new novel, LOSERS LIVE LONGER (Hard Case
Crime's latest, in stores this week), only I think Russell does it
better. Oh, Pynchon's got some serious writing chops, no question, and
at his best can handle the language like Perlman with a fiddle, but you
know what? Atwood's no slouch himself. And I came out of LOSERS more
satisfied than I came out of INHERENT VICE.
Which is not to say I thought INHERENT VICE was bad, but I wouldn't
grade it above an A-minus, and when it's Pynchon, you hope for more.
--Charles
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