Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes

Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes

"Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes" (ISBN 0-8065-1167-2) is a collection of essays and short fiction works by satirical novelist and screenwriter Terry Southern, which was first published in 1967.

It consists of twenty-four pieces which were originally published in "Esquire" magazine, "Evergreen Review", "Harper's Bazaar", "Hasty Papers", "Nugget", "The Paris Review", and "The Realist". It was re-published in 1990 with a new introduction by George Plimpton. A film was made of the title Southern short story with Southern's involvement by Philip D. Schuman which won a Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1973.

tories

*"Red-Dirt Marijuana"
*"Razor Fight"
*"The Sun and the Still-born Stars"
*"The Night the Bird Blew for Doctor Warner"
*"A South Summer Idyll"
*"Put-down"
*"You're Too Hip, Baby"
*"You Gotta Leave Your Mark"
*"The Road Out of Axotle"
*"Apartment to Exchange"
*"Love Is a Many Splendored"
*"Twirling at Ole Miss"
*"Recruiting for the Big Parade"
*"I" Am "Mike Hammer"
*"The Butcher"
*"The Automatic Gate"
*"A Change of Style"
*"The Face of the Arena"
*"The Moon-shot Scandal"
*"Red Giant on Our Doorstep!"
*"Scandale at the Dumpling Shop"
*"Terry Southern Interviews a Faggot Male Nurse"
*"The Blood of a Wig"

Plots and themes

Like much of Southern's work, "Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes" presents a detailed portrait of American culture during the 1950s. Many stories, in particular "You're Too Hip, Baby", "The Blood of a Wig", and "The Night the Bird Blew for Doctor Warner", explore the mentality of the hipster and the pretentiousness of countercultures.

Other stories, like "Recruiting for the Big Parade" and "Twirling at Ole Miss", present unusual non-fiction, and may be viewed as an early form of gonzo journalism. "Twirlin' at Ole Miss" has been cited by Tom Wolfe as one of the defining works of the genre and as such it was included in Wolfe and A.W. Johnson's anthology "The New Journalism". [Lee Hill - "A Grand Guy: The Life and Art of Terry Southern" (Bloomsbury, 2002), p.206]

The majority of the book's stories, like the eponymous "Red-Dirt Marijuana", simply present detailed character sketches and bizarre flights of fancy. In "The Sun and the Still-Born Stars", a Texan farmer wages a surreal, Beowulfian struggle against a mysterious sea monster. In "Love Is a Many Splendored", Franz Kafka receives an obscene crank call from Sigmund Freud. Beneath these strange juxtapositions, Southern explores themes of alienation, love, and truth.

The collection has been widely praised by authors such as Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, William S. Burroughs, Robert Anton Wilson, and Kurt Vonnegut. Joseph Heller characterized it as "the cutting edge of black comedy."

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Terry Southern — (May 1, 1924 ndash; October 29, 1995) was a highly influential American short story writer, novelist, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer noted for his distinctive satirical style. He was part of the Paris postwar literary movement in… …   Wikipedia

  • Southern, Terry — ▪ 1996       U.S. screenwriter and satirical novelist who collaborated on Dr. Strangelove and Easy Rider, 1960s films that reflected society s anger and unease during that era, and co wrote Candy, a scandalous erotic fantasy (b. May 1, 1924 d.… …   Universalium

  • Terry Southern — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Southern. Terry Southern (né le 1er mai 1924 à Alvarado, au Texas et mort le 29 octobre 1995 à New York) est un écrivain, scénariste, acteur et producteur de cinéma américain. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Terry Southern — (* 1. Mai 1924 in Alvarado, Texas; † 29. Oktober 1995 in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York City) war ein US amerikanischer Schriftsteller, Essayist, Drehbuchautor und Hochschullehrer. Biographie Southern war ein einflussreicher… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Blood of the Wig — is a short story in Red Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes (1967) by Terry Southern.A hipster attempts to get high by injecting the blood of a schizophrenic (the titular wig ) …   Wikipedia

  • List of Weeds characters — This is a list of characters from the television series Weeds. Contents 1 Nancy Botwin s family 1.1 Nancy Botwin 1.2 Andy Botwin 1.3 Silas Botwin …   Wikipedia

  • List of Saturday Night Live commercial parodies — This television related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it. The following is a partial list of Saturday Night Live commercial parodies. On Saturday Night Live (SNL), a parody advertisement is commonly shown after the host s opening… …   Wikipedia

  • Hair (musical) — Infobox Musical name = Hair subtitle = The American Tribal Love Rock Musical caption = Original Broadway poster music = Galt MacDermot lyrics = James Rado Gerome Ragni book = James Rado Gerome Ragni basis = productions = 1967 Off Broadway 1968… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Saturday Night Live commercials — The following is a partial list of Saturday Night Live commercial parodies. On Saturday Night Live ( SNL ), a parody advertisement is commonly shown after the host s opening monologue. Fast food, beer, feminine hygiene products, toys, and… …   Wikipedia

  • Kenya — Kenyan, adj., n. /ken yeuh, keen /, n. 1. a republic in E Africa: member of the Commonwealth of Nations; formerly a British crown colony and protectorate. 28,803,085; 223,478 sq. mi. (578,808 sq. km). Cap.: Nairobi. 2. Mount, an extinct volcano… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”