false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173242253m/263844.jpg 263844 2 George Plimpton needed no encouragement. If there was a sport to play, a party to throw, a celebrity to amaze, a fireworks display to ignite, Plimpton was front and center hurling the pitch, popping the corks, lighting the fuse. And then, of course, writing about it with incomparable zest and style. His books made him a legend. <i>The Paris Review</i>, the magazine he founded and edited, won him a throne in literary heaven. Somehow, in the midst of his self-generated cyclones, Plimpton managed to toss off dazzling essays, profiles, and <i>New Yorker</i> &#8220;Talk of the Town&#8221; pieces. This delightful volume collects the very best of Plimpton&#8217;s inspired brief &#8220;excursions.&#8221;<br>Whether he was escorting Hunter Thompson to the <i>Fear and Loathing</i> movie premiere in New York or tracking down the California man who launched himself into the upper atmosphere with nothing but a lawn chair and a bunch of weather balloons, Plimpton had a rare knack for finding stories where no one else thought to look. Who but Plimpton would turn up in Las Vegas, notebook in hand, for the annual porn movie awards gala?<br><br>Among the many gems collected here are accounts of helping Jackie Kennedy plan an unforgettable children&#8217;s birthday party, the time he improvised his way through amateur night at Harlem&#8217;s famed Apollo Theater, and how he managed to get himself kicked out of Exeter just weeks before graduation.<br><br>The grand master of what he called &#8220;participatory journalism,&#8221; George Plimpton followed his bent and his genius down the most unbelievable rabbit holes&#8211;but he always came up smiling. This exemplary, utterly captivating volume is a fitting tribute to one of the great literary lives of our time.<br><br><br><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i> 255773 2004 The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair: And Other Excursions and Observations total:35|5:7|4:8|3:18|2:2|1:0| 35 125 53 8 3 0 false false Thu Jul 17 11:11:19 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 17 11:21:55 -0700 2008
In his final years, though, you can tell that Plimpton loved to self-congratul...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 21:17:31 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 21:18:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Jan 02 09:04:29 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 09:06:24 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 08:32:23 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 08:33:45 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Sat Dec 16 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu Jan 01 11:45:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 01 11:45:53 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Tue Mar 06 20:38:27 -0800 2007 Tue Mar 06 20:41:20 -0800 2007 3 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jan 08 14:11:09 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 08 14:12:25 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Fri Sep 12 21:00:21 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 12 21:18:11 -0700 2008 2 5 0 false false Thu Oct 29 10:17:36 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 29 10:17:36 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Oct 17 14:30:03 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 17 14:30:03 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Oct 12 20:12:40 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 20:12:40 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Sep 28 07:05:48 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 07:05:48 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 03 21:27:42 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 21:27:45 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Aug 02 15:43:54 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 15:43:54 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue May 12 22:24:38 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 22:24:38 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Apr 07 13:36:23 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 13:36:23 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Apr 04 23:28:23 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 23:28:23 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Mar 26 12:03:04 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 12:03:04 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Mon Feb 09 11:24:36 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 09 11:24:36 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Feb 07 14:53:52 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 07 14:53:52 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=263844