Rick Moody Talks to Tom Wolfe...

...and leaves me wondering: How must it feel to write something that endures for 40 years—and manages to fill a theater with fans on its anniversary? Tonight, at Symphony Space, I got to hear a conversation about The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, published four decades ago. An actor read an excerpt from the book (the part where they find the bus, then drive it near a forest fire, and get pulled over by a befuddled cop), and then the two authors chatted. Tom Wolfe wore a white suit, black-and-white striped shirt, black tie, black and white shoes, and white socks with black stirrups (that remind me of the socks I had to wear when I played one season of softball in high school). The two of them covered everything from astronauts to LSD to the blogosphere (TW is not a fan—hah!), journalism, inspiration, and what it was like to ride on that bus for eight weeks. It was an inspirational night. One of the funniest things Wolfe said about modern fiction these days: It's too realistic. Maybe nonfiction is the way to be really provocative and meaningful.

If I can write something (fictional) that endures beyond my weekly writing workshop and is read by more than my classmates (who are required to read it) and my friends (whom I foist it upon), I'll be happy. Anything beyond that would be plain amazing!

Can't even comprehend 40 years. Maybe I need an outfit—a la the white suit—to turn into a caricature of myself, and then I'll be larger than life!

Or maybe not....