GO NOW by Richard Hell

Finished Th 2/15/18   The same evening as the new crown from Westside Dental.

This is one of my hardbacks that I first read back in 1999- Th 1/28/99.

I loved the novel and was glad that I had recently reread his memoir, I DREAMED I WAS A VERY CLEAN TRAMP.

GO NOW is a 'roman a clef'- this is a recollection of real life with an overlay of fiction.

Hell, in the novel his name is Paul or 'Billy Mud'.

He and Chrissa go on a trip across the US in a 1957, fire-orange, DeSoto (the cars with the really big fins), Chrissa takes the photos and he writes the narrative. A sleazy promoter, Jack, has set it up. This guy is kind of in awe of Paul's Punk Rock status, and Jack wants to sleep with Chrissa.

The trip is paid for and they even get fifty bucks a day for motel and expenses.

Much of the novel concerns Paul's attempts to get smack to feed his habit, and the tension and emotional distance between Chrissa and Paul. She's more or less always about fed up with him, but still there is an attraction.

The 'Break' occurs near the end of the book when they travel to Paul's childhood home of Lexington, KY. This is also where Richard Meyers (Richard Hell) grew up. They stay with his aunt who always had admired Paul. There is only a nine year difference in their ages- Janey was his mother's youngest sister.

Janey is an aspiring actress, but her primary job is a secondary school teacher. One afternoon when she comes home from school, Paul seduces her. However, she is quite responsive until Chrissa shows up with her camera. That's it for Chrissa- she splits back to NYC. She still leaves money for Paul and he decides to save on airfare and use the remainder for more junk. "I've always been lucky".

In 'TRAMP' Hell says that even as a very young boy, he always wanted to run away. This seems to be his 'highest high'- "Hey, why don't we just run away". GO NOW might be the story of  his life's biggest objective- and that is, to split.

The book is well written and the agony of being a drug addict is brilliantly documented. I might try to get more by Richard Hell because I'll know I'm getting some quality writing. It's really almost a tragedy that the Sex Pistols became The Legends, and Richard Hell is only a kind of footnote. He's the guy who came up with the idea of wearing ripped clothing and using safety pins to hold the rags together- he's obviously so much more than that.