That time period, well, we were very young but we felt fully conscious of having a certain calling. I don't think that joy was conveyed. His drive as an artist was ignored, replaced only by his sexual drive. They all seem to miss something. The humor of youth.
Writers focus on the hustling or the trampling over each other for success.
Perhaps some is true, but one can't discount youth and idealism. The lifestyles may have been morally questionable but a lot of people were very idealistic. For example, some of the transvestites I knew who wanted to be movie stars had tremendous innocence. I never expected anything. I didn't set out to have a rock band, it wasn't a motivation.