A Journey Into the Mind of Watts

[Paul Mackin]

On Wed, 2004-09-29 at 07:31, Paul Mackin wrote:
> On Wed, 2004-09-29 at 01:48, davemarc wrote:
> > I find it interesting to contemplate Pynchon roaming around Watts as a
> > reporter, taking the risk (for him) of making himself known to his subjects
> > as well as the Times
> > people, and then preserving the anonymity of his subjects in the finished
> > article. And then not writing any other such articles of the kind. I guess
> > he decided he wasn't cut out for that kind of work. Perhaps he felt it was
> > less stressful to devote himself to fiction and essays that didn't require
> > as much exposure of himself or his subjects.
> 
> I guess in '66, riots or no riots, it was still possible for a white boy
> to poke around a big northern city poor black neighborhood with relative
> safety. By '68 and several years after we might never have had Gravity's
> Rainbow.
> 
I had a further thought about the potential danger to young Pynchon in Watts.
People not familiar with L.A. might be interested to know that Watts was
considered even more dangerous in the 80s than it was in the 60s. They
would warn you when you rented a car at LAX not to travel directly East
even though your final destination might suggest it. Too many bullets
flying around in South Central. Take the San Diego and the Ventura (or
whatever it was) even if the Harbor freeway might have been a shorter
trip to Pasadena. (where ma lived). I took the dangerous route anyway
and always lucked out. Just a personal touch.