pt and R!C --

Now we're getting somewhere. Kerouac, Orwell and Abbey referenced in three consecutive posts! R!C (I've replaced the 1 with an exclamation point you'll note -- too much work to raise my right little finger from the shift key I've decided) you're right at home here -- self deprication is a highly regarded modus operandi . As for Abbey's opinion of Kerouac, pt, you must be a closet Abbey fan tossing a slow pitch softball for rhetorical purposes. Abbey was a reluctant intellctual more inclined to hard work the average beat author. His thoughts on Kerouac showed ambivalence but admiration:

"Jack Kerouac, like a sick refrigerator, worked too hard at keeping cool and died on his mama's lap from alcohol and infantilism."
~
"A shelf of classics for our young adults: Tolkien, Hesse, Casteneda, Kerouac, Salinger, Tom Robbins, and _The Last Whole Earth Catalog,"

For anyone interested, a good Edward Abbey website (including a list of Abbey quotes and quote search engine) is listed here. I'm particularly fond of his advice on how to avoid catching pleurisy. We're all victims of our personal experiences, you know.

http://www.abbeyweb.net/abbey.html

The Monkeywrench Gang is probably his most popular book.

lpaf