538
THOMAS R. EDWARDS
one) had ever done; his children should be in on the great moment,
even at the expense of their usual schedule and their emotional tran–
quility, as the children of the Apollo 11 crew were late getting home
(and perhaps were cranky?) after seeing Papa fly off to the moon.
Some adult purposes may
be
more adult than others, but it's not the
crying child that determines whether Kesey's behavior was shocking or
asinine - the girl's most telling remark is not "a child is crying" but
"that's all that's happening," which evidently was true for all but Kesey's
most devoted followers.
This is not to speculate about Kesey's sanity or moral sense but to
find out what Wolfe has in mind for us. At such a moment possibilities
of feeling come together in intriguing confusion - the curiously deadened
voice of conventional moral sentiment collides with the curiously indif–
ferent intensity of chemical revelation and religious ecstacy, and neither
voice can hear the other. But for the Wolfian reader the chips are
down, and it may be the last spin of the wheel: the book is ending, and
his own kids have been acting a little strangely, come to think of it. "A
child is crying" gives him a way out, based not on embarrassing "con–
ventional" disapproval of hippie-drug-fiend-weirdos - he's after all a
fairly Liberal guy, really - but on less evidently conventional "human"
pity and concern for neglected innocence. Wolfe leaves this door open,
MEMO
FROM: PR
DATE: Oct. I, 1969
TO: Our
reoders
PR is helf-in, helf.out, of the effluent society. like most non·commerciel
ventures, its expenses ere pert of The Affluent Society, its income pert of The
Other Americe. So we're constently behind rising costs.
We heven't reised our price in five yeers, but we just cen't hold out eny
longer. So we're edding e modest 25¢ e copy, beginning with our next issue.
Winter 1970 (Volume 37, No. I) .
If you ere e subscriber, your current subscription will not be effected.
When you renew, the retes will be: $5.50 for e one yeer sub, end $10.50 for
e two yeer sub.
If you ere not now e subscriber, end went to subscribe before the price
goes up, see pege 516, end help contribute to our deficit.
