Southern chronicled and acidly lampooned the mores of mid-century America in his novels Candy, Flash and Filigree and The Magic Christian. With devastating screen dialogue he transformed Dr. Strangelove into a dark classic of Cold War paranoia, and likewise elevated the low-budget Easy Rider into an unflinching, unforgettable cinematic portrait of the real limits of freedom in America. His cutting-edge journalism in Esquire covered the upheavals of the 1960s, from the Bay of Pigs to the chaotic Democratic Convention in Chicago, and his beyond-the-fringe humor landed him up as a writer on Saturday Night Live. A giant of American literature whose star faded as the times changed, Terry Southern is exactly the type of cultural figure we need now. Bold and ruthlessly honest, funny and tragic. I laugh out loud, fall out of my chair, when I re-read The Magic Christian. Good for what ails ya’.
Terry Southern. American. Writer. 1924-1995.
Terry Southern? I know that name…
12 03 2011
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