MICHAEL NESMITH- THE LONG SANDY HAIR OF NEFTOON ZAMORA
By adamgreenwell
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Rolling Stone Profile on "Good Times" the 50th Anniversary celebration of The Monkees by the surviving members.
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"The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora" By Michael Nesmith
Reviewing Michael Nesmith's "The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora" by itself is like discussing piano notes, while missing out a full orchestral work that is nuanced, subtle yet incredible.
Both Nesmith, aka Nez, and his first novel, ( Zamora, for short) are grounded in American popular culture. We need to start somewhere, and many will think of Nez as the tall Texan with the wool hat in The Monkees.
My deeper excursion into the World of Nez began with hiring a DVD of a 1966 episode of "The Monkees" from the Palmerston North Public Library, for the nostalgia of a childhood watching re-runs of the popular series. "Monkees in a Ghost Town", had the usual madcap goings on. ( Full episode at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odJiDcvzlvs )
But there was rare depth to a song played during that episode, "Papa Gene's Blues" written by Michael Nesmith, "I have no more than I did before, but now I have all that I need..." Those lyrics revealed much to learn about this most talented artist.
Our review begins in the Old Railway Hotel, on a computer, overlooking the nice green near the skatepark.
I've been invited to attend a lecture series at Videoranch, a 3D online location run by Nez. At Videoranch, guests can watch movies, see concerts, and simply interact. Today, an astronaut from Nasa, and an astrophysicist from Princeton, are giving a lecture in a virtual hall . "Avatars" from Chicago, California, London, Palmerston North, and further afield, assemble to hear these live speakers, transmitting like holograms in a Star Wars movie.
Nez introduces them to the world, literally, and an amazing visual event unfolds. I totally applaud the concept and fully recommend further study of the great work of NASA astronaut Ed Lu and astrophysicist Piet Hut.
For details about Ed Lu please visit http://edlu.com/
Videoranch was once a concept for a movie. Nez invented MTV, and won the first Grammy for music video ( Elephant Parts, 1982).
Over twenty years ago, he dreamed of Videoranch as " a magical land that doesn't really exist, like Oz". Out of that dream comes an intelligent and witty take on life and people, which carries us along to Zamora.
In Zamora, Nez narrates his search for Neftoon Zamora, the author of an old Blues song he first hears near New Orleans. Nez then travels the American Southwest in search of Zamora. Who is Zamora? Is he or she real? Is Zamora from Mars, or Mississippi? A Native American chief, or a high priest?
Put simply, The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora is a book about finding a place where truth, beauty, and intelligence can be nurtured.
Once discovered that place is then kept secret , sacred, and protected from evil and greed.
Nez stops at a diner and meets a woman with long sandy hair, Neffie, who agrees to help him in his search. Along the way, Nez falls into an undiscovered canyon village somewhere in New Mexico. Later, he keeps the canyon's location secret from a powerful billionaire.
The late Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, wrote this about Zamora: '' America may have temporarily mislaid its soul but luckily it has been found again and returned in the pages of this remarkable book".
Other reviewers, from Pulitzer Prize winners to brilliant fans call Zamora " a modern picaresque novel". That description goes to the heart of this abundant slice of American life. A picaresque novel is a series of adventures in which a rogue/hero meets realism and satire, where wit exposes folly and wickedness.
Perhaps Zamora is the ultimate American offspring of Joseph Andrews, the world's first picaresque novel written back in 1742 by Henry Fielding.
That novel, the story of a young man's first trip from an English village to London, tells us that hope and humour will triumph over the idea that life is nasty, brutish and short.
My central point for readers of Chaff is that education that teaches us to be helpful to others usually includes a healthy dose of humour.
As Nez himself once said while judging a Film Comedy award: " The real players can pull you into a magic world and make you see things from a perspective you never had, a perspective that will change the way you see things in the future".
Michael Nesmith's book,The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora, and his Videoranch operation, pull us into that magic world for the better.
For more information:
-ADAM GREENWELL, March 2007 (First article upon request for Chaff newspaper, Massey University, New Zealand).
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