IVIV "Poetry, SF, art, travel and a pinch of Pynchon"

[Doug Millison]

Poetry, SF, art, travel and a pinch of Pynchon
David Allen, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/10/2009 07:43:58 PM PDT
Updated: 09/10/2009 07:48:08 PM PDT

LET ME catch up on some of the items that accumulated during my recent  
break. And, admittedly, from before my recent break too.

ONE OF the most talked-about novels this summer is Thomas Pynchon's  
"Inherent Vice," which is set in Southern California. The Inland  
Valley, naturally, was not overlooked.

A friend who's read it reports that on page 16, a former inmate  
character talks about "When I got out of Chino..."

"Inherent Vice" has an indirect reference too. According to Rolling  
Stone's review, the novel includes "mystic surfers who hear the  
Surfaris' `Wipeout' cackle right before they take their fatal crash" -  
of interest to us because the Surfaris recorded "Wipeout" in a  
Cucamonga studio.

Incidentally, that page and others from Rolling Stone were posted on a  
wall at a pizza parlor in Berkeley as reading material for by-the- 
slice customers seated at the counter. Those included me.

Having a pen but no paper handy, I wrote down the "mystic surfers"  
line on the edge of my paper plate, carefully tore it off and pocketed  
it for later use.

Rest assured that even on vacation, I'm always on the job. It's an  
inherent vice.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_13308732