BDSL,1- Return to Athene'

[bandwraith at aol.com]

In my corner of the state, the local library cooperative includes
77 different branches. There are 74 copies of Inherent Vice listed
as available, checked out, in transit, etc. There is but one copy
of  Been Down So Long... From a nearby branch,  I have it now
in my possession. It's an older, hardcover version, without the
Pynchon introduction. All this makes me wonder if Farina would
be remembered at all if Pynchon had not dedicated GR to him.
He has become a footnote to the literary estate of Pynchon. That
makes me a lttle sad,  but no less determined to press on.
Dedications, on some level- emotional, spiritual, artistic- imply
an acknowledgement of a debt, at least of gratitude.

It may be oversimplifying a bit to say that "Doc" Sportello is Zoyd
with balls. But still, the life and times of Doc occupy much of the
same space as those of Zoyd. It's not inconceivable that they
shared a joint or two. If events hadn't forced Zoyd up north, he
might even have found himself staring into the eye on Doc's door,
looking for some help with his own situation. Probably not, though,
Zoyd seemed so content back then to wallow in his own
fecklessnness. Oh, he has his moments, and  in his own way
he's a hero of sorts, just by hanging in there for Prarie, even if
more by inertia than elan.  Certainly, he'd be no match for the
Golden Fang.

Gnossos, on the other hand, is operating with a full sack.
Seemingly- unseemly- bursting at the seams, like his rucksack,
with his raison d'etre, his sole purpose in life when he returns from
the  "asphalt seas"  to Athene, he is definitely no "desk operative"
or couch potato. From the contents of his rucksack, including a
"current 1958 calendar,"  we know the year, his taste in food- gamey
and Greek, his net worth, his wardrobe, his predilictions for dope,
his musical inclinations and a peculiar attachment to some juvenile
paraphenalia.

Wikipedia provides some interesting material concerning the year
1958, e.g.:

   February 17 – Pope Pius XII declares Saint Clare the patron
                             saint of television.

St Clare, in her day, besides hallucinating audio and video images
on her bedroom wall,  post-cannonization, miraculously
intervened to save a child from a wolf.