- Paperback: 204 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury; First Thus edition (1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747530874
- ISBN-13: 978-0747530879
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.7 x 1.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 584,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Flash and Filigree
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First Sentence
APPROACHING the smart Hauptman Clinic off Wilshire Boulevard, one is sure to be struck by the estate's breadth and purity of line. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
APPROACHING the smart Hauptman Clinic off Wilshire Boulevard, one is sure to be struck by the estate's breadth and purity of line. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
Terry Southern was a highly influential American short story writer, novelist, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer noted for his distinctive satirical style. He was part of the Paris postwar literary movement in the 1950s and a companion to Beat writers in Greenwich Village; he was at the centre of Swinging London in the sixties and helped to change the style and substance of Hollywood films of the 1970s. In the 1980s he wrote for Saturday Night Live and lectured on screen-writing at several universities in New York.
Southern's dark and often absurdist style of broad yet biting satire helped to define the sensibilities of several generations of intelligent writers, readers, directors and film goers. He is credited by journalist Tom Wolfe as having invented New Journalism with the publication of "Twirling at Ole Miss" in Esquire in 1962, and his gift for writing memorable film dialogue was evident in Dr. Strangelove, The Loved One, The Cincinnati Kid and Easy Rider. His work on Easy Rider helped create the independent film movement of the 1970s, in opposition to Hollywood film studios.
Southern's first novel is an extended comedy, following the exploits of the dermatologist Frederick Eichner as he is led through the strange underworld of the 50s LA hipster by a series of weird occurrences involving cancer cultures. Hilarious and outrageous (a famous scene recounts the taping of a game show called "What's My Disease?"), the book is an example of Southern's keenly moral satirical sense as well as of his well-crafted, elegant writing. Influenced in style by Southern's mentor Henry Green, "Flash and Filigree" adheres to Green's theory of fiction: "If you can make the reader laugh, he is apt to get careless and keep on reading."
Southern's dark and often absurdist style of broad yet biting satire helped to define the sensibilities of several generations of intelligent writers, readers, directors and film goers. He is credited by journalist Tom Wolfe as having invented New Journalism with the publication of "Twirling at Ole Miss" in Esquire in 1962, and his gift for writing memorable film dialogue was evident in Dr. Strangelove, The Loved One, The Cincinnati Kid and Easy Rider. His work on Easy Rider helped create the independent film movement of the 1970s, in opposition to Hollywood film studios.
Southern's first novel is an extended comedy, following the exploits of the dermatologist Frederick Eichner as he is led through the strange underworld of the 50s LA hipster by a series of weird occurrences involving cancer cultures. Hilarious and outrageous (a famous scene recounts the taping of a game show called "What's My Disease?"), the book is an example of Southern's keenly moral satirical sense as well as of his well-crafted, elegant writing. Influenced in style by Southern's mentor Henry Green, "Flash and Filigree" adheres to Green's theory of fiction: "If you can make the reader laugh, he is apt to get careless and keep on reading."
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Well I guess that says it all. Flash and Filligre is an ok book. I didn't feel moved or feel a particular attachment to any of the characters. If this book were a film it would be a tv movie on channel five on a saturday lunchtime. It passes the time and rises the odd wry smile but it's forgettable.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
6 reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Bizarre! Savage! Funny! Twisted! Briliant!
18 Mar 1999
Format:Paperback
"Flash and Filigree" is like nothing you'll ever read. Satirist, Terry Southern's first novel is one wild ride into the realms of insanity and obsession. The story begins with a head-scratcher of a meeting between a Doctor and a Patient, and soon has them in a game of cat and mouse in the streets of 1950's Los Angelas. I loved the way in which Southern toys with the reader: Who's crazy? Who's insane? Who's paranoid? Who's obsessed with who? Who's following who? Southern is relentless! I think I could do without the story of the nurse, which has nothing to do with the doctor's or the patient's. I also loved some of the supporting characters: The drunken detective, the pot-head bar girl, etc. This book is as sick and bizarre a novel about obsession and paranoia as any book I've read. But what a ride. HIGHLY, HIGHLY recomended. Simply Briliant!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Creepy doctors, fast cars, and hemp cocktails!
2 Sep 1996
Format:Paperback
Southern's first novel is an extended gag, following the
exploits of the dermatologist Frederick Eichner as he is led
through the strange underworld of the hipster by a series of
weird occurrences involving cancer cultures. Hilarious and outrageous (a famous scene
recounts the taping of a game show called "What's My Disease?"),
the book is an example of Southern's keenly moral
satirical sense as well as of his crafted, elegant writing.
Influenced in style by Southern's mentor Henry Green, "Flash
and Filigree" adheres to Green's theory of fiction: "If you
can make the reader laugh, he is apt to get careless and
keep on reading." Indeed.
exploits of the dermatologist Frederick Eichner as he is led
through the strange underworld of the hipster by a series of
weird occurrences involving cancer cultures. Hilarious and outrageous (a famous scene
recounts the taping of a game show called "What's My Disease?"),
the book is an example of Southern's keenly moral
satirical sense as well as of his crafted, elegant writing.
Influenced in style by Southern's mentor Henry Green, "Flash
and Filigree" adheres to Green's theory of fiction: "If you
can make the reader laugh, he is apt to get careless and
keep on reading." Indeed.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Fans of Cronenburg's _Crash_ would enjoy this read.
7 Jan 1999
Format:Paperback
Terry Southern is a master satirist in _Flash and Filigree_. Fans of David's Cronenburg's _Crash_ will certainly consume this book in a single sitting... simply to follow the exploits of Dr. Eichner (who would have been a nice addition to the movie; I guess Cronenburg didn't do his homework). Southern handles this whirlwind, insanely paced novel with totalitarian precision and makes every word (regardless of how trivial the word may seem) count. Southern was doing the gig that Tarrantino is now doing in the 50s. Southern also is not fearful of the controversial and he boldly depicts the daterape of Babs by Ralph. The scene is trash, but, by God, Southern writes trash perfectly. Besides, scenes such as this put the bread on the tables of MacKinnon, and Andrea Dworkin (this scene would have fit nicely into Dworkin's theoretical manifesto _Intercourse_). The characters are unforgetable (in fact, they have inspired a few characters in some of the stories that I have written). In summation: this review is chaotic, the book is not, buy it, or rot in boredom as you remain a slave to television.
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