The Fan Man
"This short, artfully structured, supremely insane novel is Buddha's story, turned inside out... Horse Badorties walks into American literature a full-blown achievement, a heroic godheaded head, a splendid creep, a sublime prince of the holy trash pile... send congratulations to William Kotzwinkle, also a hero, man."William Kennedy, New Republic "Kotzwinkle has invented a human dada, full of one-line gags and comic perceptions."The New York Times Book Review "Old Horse is one hell of a character, man."Philadelphia Bulletin"A delightfully, often devastatingly funny novel... William Kotzwinkle is a first-rate fabulist and has created in Horse Badorties a new kind of American character who, while dwelling in the realms of the fantastic, touches upon far more aspects of contemporary life then do many so-called American characters... (Horse is a) kind of Ginger Man, Lucky Jim, Huck Finn, and Easy Rider all mixed up in one... a marvelous creation."Seattle Times"Kotzwinkle's story of a drug-flavored, flailing genius is a fine and funny piece of work that deserves to outlive many more studious efforts to limm the psychedelic ethos - and to wind up, perhaps, in some college lit class of the future, along with Thompson and Wolfe, all examples of a rare and exotic strain of experience that crept into the literature of the sixties and seventies."Rolling Stone"This is one of my favorite books. Ever... The sixties are long gone (sigh). But William Kotzwinkle's creation of a doped-up, cooled-out street bum - whose prize possessions include the self-given mantra "Dorky" and a fan that hums with the universe - lives on. Go on. Check it out."QPB Review "The Fan Man cuts through so many games that it leaves a trail of clear light."Ram Dass"A hilarious historical novel about the East Village, the summer of fifteen-year-old runaways, dope, music, truth, beauty, and living off the concrete, asphalt, asbestos land... The Aquarian age found its correct chronicler in this book."San Francisco Review of Books