The Fan Man [Paperback]

William Kotzwinkle (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (May 31, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679752455
• ISBN-13: 978-0679752455
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.6 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #329,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Kotzwinkle is a celebrated satirist in the US as well as being author of several favourite books, including ET the Extra-Terrestrial and of course, the New York Times listed bestselling Walter the Farting Dog. He lives on an island off the east coast of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's fun, man. Like FUN, dig?, July 7, 2005

By 

Stan Willis - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fan Man (Paperback)

There has been a lot of counterculture literature since the rise of the Beat Generation in the 50s. Much of it fails to measure up to the standard of Kerouac, Ginsberg or Burroughs. There are some writers who have managed to rise up to the occasion with classic or near classic works. Terry Southern would be one that comes to mind. Another writer who has produced some fine works is William Kotzwinkle. Before, "E.T. The Extra-terrestial", Kotzwinkle was noted for producing counterculture literature. One of his most famous works is the 1974 novel "The Fan Man".

This novel chronicles the sleazy misadventures of the self absorbed hippie Horse Badorties. He is typical low life East Village for that time period, man. He knows the score and will always find the door for a quick out. He avoids things like rent and pays for commodities with rubber checks. Surely this is a time piece cause many of his ideals wouldn't fly in today's climate.

The title is derived from his continued attempts to be a salesman of small battery powered fans. He consistently uses them and tries to sell them in any store or business he enters into. It is all part of his grand scheme. He even envisions utilizing the fans in his Love Concert that will be presented at St Nancy's Church. (I am wondering if this is meant to be the famous St. Mark's Church in the East Village which conducted poetry readings for decades.)

Kotzwinkle endeavors to capture the thought process and speech pattern of an East Village post hippie lowbrow. In this, he is very successful. The narrative moves along in a hazy stream of consciousness. Horse Badorties is a slob who is no stranger to the herbal pleasures of Mother Nature. The novel begins with Horse waking up in his filthy pad. Kotzwinkle is very descriptive in detailing the encrusted, greasy condition of this pad. It would probably not be too appealing to squeamish stomachs. I found myself thinking, "Man, and I thought I was a slob." Horse Badorties is not only from another era, he seems to be from another universe.

Badorties is full of big ideas and cons. He doesn't pay the rent and destroys the pad with his junk and filth. He is trying to conduct a love concert which will feature a chorus of 15 year old girls, most of whom, he tries to bed down. He has music sheets which he claims is church music from hundreds of years ago. Suspension of disbelief is required to take seriously anything Horse Badorties says.

The narrative is written in the first person, and we get a lot of "mans" sprinkled throughout the text, man. Like, man, after awhile, it can get pretty unnerving, man. In this respect, it is similar to a novel like Huck Finn where Twain attempts to capture the slang and accents of 19th Century Missouri. Kotzwinkle is very successful in this endeavor. He manages to tap into that vein of consciousness from Badorties viewpoint. This can be frustrating to the reader. If you consider how annoying it can be to listen to a person who overuses the word man in their speech, man, well, it can be just as annoying reading this text. Some readers would probably get lost in trying to follow the narrative. You almost have to try to put yourself in Badorties shoes. That is not a pleasant proposition. Kotzwinkle is very successful in capturing this stream of consciousness.

My impression is that this book is meant more as an adieu to the hippie era and the summer of love mentality that the 60s rock exuded. This is really about the crash, man. This is when people began to drop out without tuning in or turning on. In reading the book, I get the sense that I am listening to the voice of a man whose time has passed. He is left to wallow, in his own words, in putrified wretchedness. There must have been quite a few real life people like Badorties populating the East Village during those years. Perhaps there still are a few dinosaurs and relics there today. All in all, this is a very amusing, entertaining and irreverent book, one that will certainly make you laugh. Yes, it's a fun book. Pick up a copy! Along with this novel I'd also like to recommend another East Village novel called The Losers' Club (Complete Restored Edition) by Richard Perez.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Make a plan to read The Fan Man, May 8, 2004

By 

Lindsey Mills (Bak Middle School of the Arts - West Palm Beach) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fan Man (Paperback)

I can't very well say that I could relate to Horse Badorties and his many, many quirks. Although, I think we've all got a little bit of the Fan Man inside. William Kotzwinkle's perpetually-stoned main character invites his readers into his cluttered Horse Badorties pads, sharing with us his musical genius and many forms of health food (drugs), among other things.

The Fan Man is filled to the brim with pure random humor, making little sense to anyone but the Man himself. His obscene language, erratic shopping sprees, and quests for fifteen-year old runaway chicks make Horse a bonkers, yet irresistible kind of guy.

This book is made up entirely of his experiences, which he always seems to just barely make it through. For example, he sets his mind on getting the Today show to broadcast a live performance of his ongoing musical endeavor, the Love Chorus. In the process of getting this big goal accomplished, he falls asleep in a sinking boat in Central Park, pretends to have fallen down an elevator shaft, and somehow comes out beaming.

There is an immense feeling of contentment that Badorties absolutely exudes, even with all of his obvious problems bearing down on him. His landlord is desperate to evict him from his cockroach-infested apartment. He hasn't been laid in FAR too long, as he put it. But in Horse's eyes, the filth of his pad is artful, and any day now, he is bound to charm a fifteen-year old chick up to his place to smoke some banana flakes.

The most interesting element of this book is it's twisted philosophical value. Horse lives life without holding back. He does everything just as it pops into his head, if he's not distracted before he can. In some odd way, it seems that Horse sets an example of how we all wish we could live: carefree, on a constant high (whether it be by substances ingested or simply a mindset), and most of all, happy. No matter how many girls turn Horse down, he continues to hand out his sheet music to attractive young ladies on the street. No matter how much deadly Puerto Rican music may reach his ears, he always just pulls out the protective Commander Schmuck earflap hat and walks on.

Over the course of a few hundred pages, we get to know the Fan Man intimately, and I know I felt a very complacent satisfaction with how things are left, despite several loose ends. Kotzwinkle created an entirely lovable character that will most certainly drag you willingly through mountains of trash and laughter.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eccentric journey into the mind of an insightful nut, March 2, 2004

By 

R.K.M. "RKM" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fan Man (Paperback)

Okay, this is a weird book. And it's nice to add a weird book to your repetoire every once in a while; shake things up. Well. Horse Badorties, our hero, is a brain-fried crazy hippie in New York in the 70s. In this book you get to go on his tripped out journey as he gathers the detritus of civilization, from giant hot-dog stand umbrellas to old air-raid sirens, and passes through life. This book really just injects you into his mind. You are him, and you get to follow his strange, ADD thought processes. If this book delivers a lesson, it is just that Horse, strange as he is, is a survivor. Somehow, with no dependable source of income, he manages to get everything he wants. He gets an apartment, a trip to the inner workings of the Museum of Natural History, and a fantastic success of a Love Concert. Horse floats through life and for him nothing ever can go wrong. His perspective is very unique, and crazy, but none the less valuable. Buying two music boxes from a cheap-o toy store, he walks five yards from the store and they both break. Instead of being distressed by this, however, he is inspired. Now they are holy objects, their tiny clockwork dancers waiting for eternity for music that will never come. Now they play the music of Nirvana.

Also, you have to read this for the Dorky-Day chapter. Trust me. Just trust me.