ARTS
The Michigan Daily
Tuesday, November 28, 1989
Page 5
Vanity unfair
Tom Wolfe claims to be what literature needs
BY MARK SWARTZ
TOM Wolfe has written an essay
for this month's Harper's Magazine
titled "Stalking the Billion-Footed
Beast." It calls on the writers of this
age to jettison their minimalist
ways, their magic realist ways,
and/or their neo-fabulist ways and
embrace what Wolfe calls realism.
"A realism," as he defines it, "that
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would portray the individual in inti-
mate and inextricable relation to the
society around him."
And what work do you think he
cites as the contemporary touchstone
for his bold proposition? If I told
you he happened to mention his own
urban chronicle, The Bonfire on the
Vanities - six times - would it
surprise you? Two years after its
publication, the novel still pleases
its writer to no end. Contrast this
stance with that of Larry McMurtry
(Lonesome Dove, The Last Picture
Show) who in a recent interview was
asked which of his books he liked
the most, and answered, "I don't
think about 'em much once I write
'em."
Wolfe makes sure we know he
has been thinking a lot about what
he has written. Bonfire, on account
of its journalistic perspicacity, its
documentation of what is actually
going on, does what Wolfe expects
all other novels should be doing. He
calls upon the forefathers of social
realism, Balzac, Zola, Dickens, and
Thackeray - whose Vanity Fair
gave Wolfe the initial conception for
his novel - to join him in his bat-
tle against the Puppet-Masters, an
implicitly despicable club that in-
cludes Kafka, Calvino, and Garcia
Marquez. Literature is in danger of
losing its relevancy because so much
of it takes place "at no specific loca-
tion. You couldn't even tell what
hemisphere it was." On the other
hand, you know where Wolfe's book
takes place. It takes place in "The
Rome, The Paris, The London of the
20th century, the city of ambition,
the dense magnetic rock, the irre-
sistible destination of all those who
insist on being where things are
happening - " Some just call it the
Big Apple, Mr. Wolfe.
SAY ITIN THE...
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Grateful Dead
Built to Last
Arista
Jerry Garcia once said that
"(Grateful Dead) fans are like people
who like licorice. Not everyone likes
licorice but people who like licorice
really like licorice." Appropriately
enough, on Halloween the Dead rose
again to deliver a new batch of
licorice to their fans. The new re-
lease, Built to Last, adds another
nine songs to their already overflow-
ing collection.
The Grateful Dead built their
popularity upon their continual live
performances, and this experience
can't adequately be captured in the
studio. This new album is no excep-
tion. Subjectivity aside, Built to
Last is a rather satisfying collection
of songs. The first single, "Foolish
Heart," seems to be a personal at-
tempt for the band to see if they can
reach the top of the Billboard charts.
The style of the song is similar to
their 1986 single "Touch of Grey,"
but lines like "A selfish heart is
trouble/ but a foolish heart is worse"
come across as more melodic.
After first opening the album,
one can't help but get the feeling
that Built to Last is the Dead's most
commercial and mainstream effort to
date. Not to criticize the band's in-
tentions, but the feeling is over-
whelming when an order form con-
taining merchandise bearing the
Built to Last emblem (a.k.a. "Steal
Your Wrench") lands upon your lap
after removing the wrapping from
the cassette. A few songs seem to go
along with this feel, such as
"Foolish Heart" and "Built to Last."
But these two songs are also great to
dance to (if you "shit dance" as Grace
Slick entitles it).
The album also contains some
wonderful gems. Brent Mydlands'
lullaby for his daughter, "I Will
Take You Home," gives the feel of
swaying like a child to the comfort-
ing sounds of a music box. Maybe a
picture of Picasso's harlequin will
come to mind (as it did in mine),
which leads me directly to another
tune that stuck in my head for days
after first hearing it, "Picasso
Moon." This song is too catchy for
one not to enjoy listening to it; you
might get annoyed that it keeps
popping in your head at inopportune
moments but you just listen to it
one more time and that thought
stops.
Built to Last is oftentimes bal-
anced with two songs opposing each
other - the thoughtful "Standing on
the Moon" balances the more biting
"Victim Or the Crime." After being
run through the studio, many of, the
songs have been rendered in such a
way to contain a certain Billboard
quality. "Blow Away" and "We Can
Run" are fine examples of this. But
the mainstream aspect of Built to
Last is lost when trying to classify
it in comparison to other albums.
The album as a whole does not, al-
low itself to be set in a certain time-
frame; this is not just the 1989 ver-
sion of the Grateful Dead. Like most
Grateful Dead tunes, they all reside
in their own "dead" time zone in re-
lation to what the rest of the music
scene is producing. The only thing
that can be simply stated about Built
to Last is that, while leaning to be
more mainstream, it's the new Dead
album.
-Paul Friedman
He gives us some juicy inside in-
formation about the writing of his
novel. It seems he could barely keep
ahead of that city where things are
happening. Readers of the serialized
version that appeared in Rolling
Stone (serialization being the pre-
ferred method of publication for
Dickens and Thackeray) will remem-
ber from an early chapter a certain
nervous character riding the subway.
Wolfe never followed through with
what he had originally planned to be-
fall Larry Kramer, because the Bern-
hard Goetz episode came along. Ap-
parently Goetz, the cad, stole
Wolfe's idea out from under him.
The author accordingly had to scrap
his plans for Kramer. "People would
say," he writes, "this poor fellow
Wolfe, he has no imagination."
Strike one up for reality. But we
also get an instance where the writer
scoops the real world. By the time
the Reverend Al Sharpton (notorious
for his frequent press conferences re-
garding the Tawana Brawley case)
came along, his character had already
been served up in the person of the
"grotesque" Black activist, Reverend
Bacon. For Tom Wolfe, fiction
speeds along in a constant race
against the evening news. The ulti-
mate test of a novel's merit is
whether the crazy events of the day
can invent scenarios before the au-
thor's mind can.
Aside from the dubious ethical
undertaking of trying to review one's
own book (actually he subtitles the
work "A Literary Manifesto"), I have
no problem with Wolfe's assessment
of what he has done in writing Bon-
fire. For a first work of fiction, the
author of The Right Stuff and the
Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test has
created a fascinating, relevant, and
occasionally hilarious world. But by
universalizing his method and
thereby invalidating all other ways
of writing about a very big world, he
shrinks the possibilites of literature.
He might as well recommend that
writers take his example and begin
wearing white suits with white
socks and white shoes. But just be-
cause that curious fashion decision
"works" for Tom Wolfe doesn't
mean you or I wouldn't look ridicu-
lous if we tried it.
Wasty wind, when will thou blow?
Rocky, funky, metally and apparently sexy, the appallingly monikered Run Westy Run bring their own
Minneapolis sound to the Blind Pig tonight. "Post-punk-Southern-folk-blues-rock for people who went
through all these styles but now don't need to put one label on music," comes in the shape of support group,
Shadowland, who have a spiffing (Loaded-era Velvets) version of Robert Zimmerman's "It's All Over Now,
Baby Blue." Tickets are $4 at the door. Showtime is 10 p.m.
Participate in .. .
Talking about the Right Things
Campus-wide dialogues organized by the Institute for Social Research
Here at The University of Michigan,
students of diverse racial and ethnic back-
grounds attend the same classes, live in the
same dorms, read in the same study halls
and libraries, and cheer for the same
teams. Yet they may only rarely talk with
each other to share ideas, opinions, and
perspectives. And the same is true of
faculty and staff.
Let's begin the dialogue...
A group of us at the Institute for
Social Research plan to observe Martin
Luther King Day, January 15, 1990, by
seeing and discussing Spike Lee's
provocative new film.. .
Do the Right Thing
Come see a free showing of this film,
and ...
* talk about our divided society
How can you begin the dialogue?
Observe Martin Luther King Day by
seeing and discussing this film with a
person of a different racial or ethnic
background.
* Attend one of three orientation sessions
(lace to be specified):
Friday, January 12, at 1:00 p.m.
Friday, January 12, at 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, January 13, at 10:00 a.m.
* See the film with your discussion partner
at one of the special free showings at the
Michigan Theater:
Monday, January 15, 1:30 p.m.
Monday, January 15, 4:30 p.m.
* Talk about the film with your discus-
sion partner
* Share with others the ideas you
and your discussion partner develop
together -- and, if you wish, contribute
those ideas to a special publication
(anonvmouslv. unless you wish
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Talking about the Right Things
Make your reservations now...
Your name:
Address:
Telephone:
Circle one:
freshman, sophomore, junior, senior,
graduate student, faculty, staff
Your racial or ethnic background (to help match discussion
partners):
Your age: Sex: M F
Do you need a discussion partner? Yes No
If you already have a partner:
Partner's name:
Partner's address and phone:
Partner is (circle one):
freshman, sophomore, junior, senior,
graduate student, faculty, staff
Partner's racial or ethnic background:
Partner's age: Partner's sex: M F
A
Please indicate which orientation session you think you will
attend (check one):
__Friday, January 12, 1:00 p.m.