A Reader Writes…
“Mr. Fishburne,
I was drawn by the title of your book by accident, as a few years ago I heard a songwriters interview ( McMurtry ?) who had written a song in which “going to see the elephants” was code in the 30’s or 40’s for a young farmhand’s trip into town for his 1st sexual experience at a traveling carnival. Evidently this was a sideline of the sideshows. I am certainly glad I was hooked, as I enjoyed the book greatly ! You have a lovely off-hand style and your characters took me back many years to my enjoyment of Richard Braughtigan’s books. Your characters have just the right amount of humanity to make them as unpredictable and zany as the ones who inhabit this planet. Thank you!”–J.P.
JP! thanks for writing. Yes, the song you reference is called “See the Elephant” and is by the very smart songwriter James McMurty. James sings songs that are like lyric short stories. He may be influenced by his literary father, Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove and many stories, books, and movies.
You can listen to the song here. It’s a beaut.
No Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
