Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
by Richard Fariña
Penguin

Our Price: $16.00

As a thirteen-year-old rummaging around my father's record collection, I never imagined that the dog-eared copy of Been Down I found was anything more than typical baby-boomer fare. Little did I know I was holding a book that was actually a lyrically crafted, comically tragic, modern-day Homeric epic which would become--and stay--one of my very favorite novels. Farina, otherwise known as a folk musician who teamed up with Bob Dylan, was killed in a motorcycle accident two days after the publication of this, his only novel. His protagonist, Gnossos Pappadopoulis, is a manic Odysseus, ostensibly searching for the most potent highs, zaniest adventures, and rankest feta cheese he can find--but, at the heart of it all, really seeking to release himself from his seemingly eternal loneliness by finding that most elusive prize: true love. This is a novel to be appreciated by readers of any age who have fancied themselves on a similar journey.