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Book
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DC 449BK
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"Rudolph Wurlitzer's Slow Fade is now available for the first time in almost two decades. As the torch passes from the last generation of the 20th century to the young dudes of the current day, the relevance of Slow Fade is renewed. Through Rudy Wurlitzer's novelistic and screenwriting works, he explored themes of changing identities and the passing of generations. These themes, realized with poignancy in the pages of Slow Fade, which bids farewell to the traditions of the American mid-century in a sweeping, occasionally stumbling backwards glance, all while remaining bound firmly in 'the now' of the present-day of its writing, the early 1980s. Slow Fade is the portrait of a director of motion pictures; a man whose life has been devoted to manipulations of images on the screen, negotiations at the conference table, actors and technicians and even (and especially) with those closest to him. Nearing the end of his career, he tries to divest himself of illusions, to make peace with his demons and his past. The process is complex and at times seems to occur by committee. After his son Walker returns from a long spell in India, searching for his sister at his father's behest, father hires son to write a script about his experiences there, the only way the two men seem to be able to discuss their lives. As Wesley grapples with control over one final film project, Walker roams the American landscape with a disaffected roadie trying to make a new career for himself outside of his rock and roll experiences. The parallel wanderings of father and son are filled with debauched misadventures and spiritual blind alleys as they roam through a diverse geography ranging from the streets of Beverly Hills to the backcountry wastelands of northeastern Canada via a Mexican beach resort, New York's Russian Tea Room and the charnal grounds of India. Slow Fade is by turns spare and eloquent; dryly humorous and darkly savage, a deeply informed novel about the worlds of the movies and rock and roll, as well as a rowdy account of the cultural and generational pas de deux that occurred throughout the 1970s - as previously noted, a dance that must be attended by every generation." Soft cover version; 200 pages;
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Book
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DC 449HCBK
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Signed hardcover version.
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5CD
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DC 449CD
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"Drag City's first foray into the wide world of audio books is a reading of Rudolph Wurlitzer's 1984 Hollywood-and- elsewhere opus, Slow Fade. Reading the text is Will Oldham, whose voice has been heard in the musical role of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy for the past decade. Will is countered by his good friend D.V. DeVincentis, who has worked in Hollywood writing and producing films all of his adult life. Slow Fade is the portrait of Wesley Hardin, whose life has been devoted to manipulations of all kinds -- cinematic images, conference table negotiations, actors, technicians, and even (and especially) those closest to him. Nearing the end of the career, he tries to divest himself of illusions, to make peace with his demons and his past. The process is complex and at times appears to occur by committee. After his son Walker returns from a long spell in India, (where he was searching for Wesley's daughter at his father's behest), Wesley hires him to write a script about his experiences there, which Walker will not otherwise discuss. As Wesley grapples with control over one final film project, Walker roams the American landscape with a disaffected roadie named A.D., who is desperately trying to make a new career for himself outside of his rock 'n roll experiences. The debauched wanderings of father and son are filled with comic misadventures and spiritual blind alleys, with a diverse geography ranging from the streets of Beverly Hills to the charnel grounds of India, a Mexican beach resort, New York's Russian Tea Room and the backcountry of Labrador in northeastern Canada. Slow Fade is by turns spare and eloquent; dryly humorous and darkly savage, a deeply informed novel about the unshakably transient worlds of the movies and rock and roll, as well as a rowdy account of the cultural and generational pas de deux that occurred throughout the 1970s -- a dance that must occur when the torch passes through every generation."
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