In Our Time

This was in my parent's book collection and I have been fascinated with this book since I was a child. My parents did not place many restrictions on me and I was allowed to read or look over any book that they owned, regardless if it was suitable for me or if I even comprehened the content. Not only were they lax in limiting my exposure but they weren't very good at explaining things to me either. I remember watching a movie about the Scarlet Letter and then being moved to draw A's on my and my sister's chests with an indelible marker. I remember being punished for it but not knowing why it was wrong.

So, "In Our Time" falls into the categories of unsuitable and incomprehensible but completely intriguing. Mostly, I loved Tom Wolfe's drawings. There were famous people featured like Carol Doda and Howard Hughes that he rendered into really grotesque caricatures but NO ONE would ever tell me who they were other than that they were famous people. So I was left to create my own stories about some exotic dancer and a strange man-baby.

Honestly, I don't know why my parents ahd this book in the first place. Neither of them are people who would enjoy Tom Wolfe's commentaries and sketches of urban, intellectual, or cultural america in the 70s. My parents are NOT intellectual at all! I'm not saying that this is somehow a lacking on their part but that kind of thinking simply does not interest them. They must have gotten it as a gift from someone. Probably my Aunt Jackie, who is a raging intellectual, gave it to them in hopes that the accesibility of this book would appeal to them and finally she would have something to talk about with them.

I think I was the only one in the house to ever read it. I found it again when I went to visit them this weekend and the dust was literally an inch think. I asked my Dad if I could borrow it. He said, "Sure, I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I'm not missing out on anything."