This is such an engaging and thorough read. I’ve read a third and this inspires me to pick it back up. Currently half through 2666, which I’m enjoying immensely, but only piecemeal. And slow. I take breaks from it and read other novels.
Scenes--and the mythology that sometimes surrounds them- have always fascinated me. PDX had a great scene in the early 90s, but it's 100% accurate to say that a lot of people living right in the middle of it had no idea it was happening. For every band that got "big," there were fans that saw them earlier at a house party or open band night. You can keep distilling this down until you get to a core of maybe 4-5 people, most of whom are either partners of the band members, or siblings.
I don't get a out a whole lot anymore, but in a world of Bandcamp and DistroKid, I wonder if that same organic growth follows the same trajectory (if that makes sense).
The only Bolano book I've read is a novella called 'Cowboy Graves'. I do a bit of writing myself and I can't tell you how much his writing inspired me not just to write, but the ideas the prose forced me to confront. It's funny he uses Artuto as the name of his alter ego because reading Bolano really reminded me of one of my favourite writers - John Fante. Just in the way he rants and raves, gets really emotional about something and then snaps back into a cool and rational demeanor over and over again. I will definitely find The Savage Detectives and check it out.
Also wanted to say I recently listened to Minor Threat first EP's on Bandcamp. I am a pretty big punk fan and although I'm in my early 50's (discovered punk adjacent bands through Nirvana) I went back and checked a lot of the greats in my 20's when I was still buying a lot of used records. Minor Threat were not a disappointment at all. So explosive., just shuddering power. Would say there definitely were scenes back in the day. Seattle, NYC during the mid 70's, Minneapolis during the mid 80s, Detroit in the late 90's/early 2000's all were great scenes and that's just the very tip of the iceberg. I hear Philly and Cincinnati have got great punk scenes today. BTW how did you like Double Nickels ON The Dime? I love that record. Good luck with the new book.
Great piece. I read somewhere the origins of THE SAVAGE DETECTIVES publishing history. It went something like this: the editors at FSG had a "spot" open and there seemed to have not been an "international literary figure" for a while, so they were looking around for something sexy and "international" and found The Savage Detectives. They didn't really think much of the writing, but they figured the TITLE was at least provocative and so they bought the rights and slapped a cool cover on it. Then they cranked up the PUBLICITY machine and since they were right about their not being an international literary sensation in a while, they were able to generate a hit, which then became a sensation and is now an international literary legend!
This is such an engaging and thorough read. I’ve read a third and this inspires me to pick it back up. Currently half through 2666, which I’m enjoying immensely, but only piecemeal. And slow. I take breaks from it and read other novels.
Scenes--and the mythology that sometimes surrounds them- have always fascinated me. PDX had a great scene in the early 90s, but it's 100% accurate to say that a lot of people living right in the middle of it had no idea it was happening. For every band that got "big," there were fans that saw them earlier at a house party or open band night. You can keep distilling this down until you get to a core of maybe 4-5 people, most of whom are either partners of the band members, or siblings.
I don't get a out a whole lot anymore, but in a world of Bandcamp and DistroKid, I wonder if that same organic growth follows the same trajectory (if that makes sense).
The only Bolano book I've read is a novella called 'Cowboy Graves'. I do a bit of writing myself and I can't tell you how much his writing inspired me not just to write, but the ideas the prose forced me to confront. It's funny he uses Artuto as the name of his alter ego because reading Bolano really reminded me of one of my favourite writers - John Fante. Just in the way he rants and raves, gets really emotional about something and then snaps back into a cool and rational demeanor over and over again. I will definitely find The Savage Detectives and check it out.
Also wanted to say I recently listened to Minor Threat first EP's on Bandcamp. I am a pretty big punk fan and although I'm in my early 50's (discovered punk adjacent bands through Nirvana) I went back and checked a lot of the greats in my 20's when I was still buying a lot of used records. Minor Threat were not a disappointment at all. So explosive., just shuddering power. Would say there definitely were scenes back in the day. Seattle, NYC during the mid 70's, Minneapolis during the mid 80s, Detroit in the late 90's/early 2000's all were great scenes and that's just the very tip of the iceberg. I hear Philly and Cincinnati have got great punk scenes today. BTW how did you like Double Nickels ON The Dime? I love that record. Good luck with the new book.
Man that sounds cynical, which means it's probably true, but I hope it isn't!
Great piece. I read somewhere the origins of THE SAVAGE DETECTIVES publishing history. It went something like this: the editors at FSG had a "spot" open and there seemed to have not been an "international literary figure" for a while, so they were looking around for something sexy and "international" and found The Savage Detectives. They didn't really think much of the writing, but they figured the TITLE was at least provocative and so they bought the rights and slapped a cool cover on it. Then they cranked up the PUBLICITY machine and since they were right about their not being an international literary sensation in a while, they were able to generate a hit, which then became a sensation and is now an international literary legend!