Synopsis
Fariña evokes the Sixties as precisely, wittily, and poignantly as F. Scott Fitzgerald captured the Jazz Age. The hero, Gnossus Pappadopoulis, weaves his way through the psychedelic landscape, encountering—among other things—mescaline, women, art, gluttony, falsehood, science, prayer, and, occasionally, truth. A portrait of an explosive decade, sparkling with inventive writing and conveying the essence of a generation, Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me, as Thomas Pynchon writes in the introduction, "comes on like the Hallelujah Chorus done by 200 kazoo players with perfect pitch."
"A marvelous storyteller, Fariña is fit to join the company of Kerouac, Kesey, and Pynchon." —San Francisco Chronicle
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Review
This is the ultimate novel of college life during the first hallucinatory flowering of what has famously come to be known as The Sixties. Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me follows haunted ur-hippy Gnossos Pappadopoulis upon return to his old university town that's just tilting into a new era, and Gnossos' involvement in a swirl of sixties-style drug taking and the search for love and the meaning of it all. It is a hilarious and haunting book.
About the Author
Richard Fariña was killed in a motorcycle accident in Carmel, California, on April 30, 1966-two days after the publication of Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me. A posthumous collection of his writings, Long Time Coming and a Long Time Gone, was published in 1969.
Thomas Pynchon was born in Glen Cove, New York, in 1937. He is the author of The Crying of Lot 49, V., Vineland, Slow Learner, and Mason & Dixon, among other novels.
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Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
Seller: Zoom Books East, Glendale Heights, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: acceptable. Book is in acceptable condition and shows signs of wear. Book may also include underlining highlighting. The book can also include "From the library of" labels. May not contain miscellaneous items toys, dvds, etc. . We offer 100% money back guarantee and 24 7 customer service. Seller Inventory # ZEV.0140065369.A
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Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
Seller: HPB-Emerald, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_468409379
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Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
Seller: Wichita Adult Literacy Council, Wichita Falls, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Near Fine. **Ships to USA addresses only, media mail.** Fiction by American author, folk singer, poet and novelist, Richard Farina whose death at 29, in a motorcycle accident in 1966, ended his short but brilliant career. Sort cover. Slight folding on spine. No writing nor folded pages. Proceeds benefit adult literacy. Seller Inventory # 000393
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BEEN DOWN SO LONG IT LOOKS LIKE UP TO ME
Published by
Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, 1983
ISBN 10: 0140065369
ISBN 13: 9780140065367
Used
Softcover
Seller: Fox & Hedgehog, Moraga, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Softcover. Condition: Very Good. (NAP). xiv, 329 p. Originally published: New York : Random House, 1966. The Pynchon intro is new to this edition. A nice copy with tight binding and square spine with a couple wrinkles but no creases. No marks. Pages and inside covers toned. Covers fresh and unrubbed, with a little wear to front corners and crown of spine but little other wear. Seller Inventory # 2254
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Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
Seller: BennettBooksLtd, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
paperback. Condition: New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! Seller Inventory # Q-0140065369
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Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
Seller: GoldBooks, Denver, CO, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # 2A41_87_0140065369