Appendix E

OUTLINE FOR BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO MORONS AWAKE!

A. Reluctant to begin reading of novel with a "preface." As editor J.P. knows all the rules!

1. But this is no ordinary novel.

2. Advice needed to help reader appreciate book?

3 Reason for preface. Reading notes: (1) Begin with Book Two (until comfortable or oriented) then Book One? (2) All references to author's other works-in process of being published or reprinted?

B. But while we are at it, go into background of how this novel got published, my role in the processes, etc.

1. With the exception of its author no one was more intimately involved with the creation of this "novel" than I, its editor. Collaborative effort? Conceived? Sexual process? Madonna? Has author acknowledged his debt of gratitude to the woman/female who mothered, nurtured infant? (in whose editorial womb this book gestated etc) Is she embarrassed by tributes I pay to her?

2. How much credit does she deserve (maternity)? Was book whittled down to size? What did it read like before she made her cuts!!?? Turning it into a best seller! Telephone-directory-sized manuscript into best seller! Labor of love! Did not want to destroy its eccentric character. A delicate procedure. A triumph in the art of editing?

C. Sharing honors with her? Joint authorship (which she rejects). Prizes? Patriotism is enough? Immortalized as Molly Pitcher or Betsy Ross of second American Revolution!

1. Vassar background (despite Moronic genes)

D. Who/what am I? Begin story at beginning (cardinal rule of editing bestselling novels)

1. Working in basement, reading mss!

2. She plays (always dreamed of playing) Sylvia Beach to a James Joyce! What intelligent woman doesn't have such dreams or fantasies? Anais Nin to Henry Miller? Humdrum life! Reading is not what it is cracked up to be! Wading through piles of manuscripts! Gothic Romances! First sentences! Titles!

     a. Needle in haystack. Every reader's dream of discovering Thomas Wolfe, Hemingway, Fitzgerald etc.

3. The Plain family. Aristocratic? Moronic blood in their veins, skeletons in their closets? Hanging from their family tree? Dark secrets she discovers as a girl while going through attic or drawers? Visit by parents to Moronia? Meeting with ambassador? Paths have crossed! Father in State Department? Himself an ambassador? Persecutor of Goldberg? Grandfather as undersecretary of State in FDR administration-played part in having me assigned to Moronia. Anti- Semitism in family. Mayflower credentials. Cyrus Plain? The Plains of Massachusetts. Nob Hill. Slavery, whaling, gunpowder--history of America! Socialite? Family objections when she chooses reclusive life of reader for publishing house. Independent streak in the Plains?

D. Editor(ess) is female who as reader was first to discover/read MA! Fate? At the time she knew instantly: (1) MA was work of genius, great American Novel, etc.; (2) It was a flawed masterpiece that would need much editorial effort; (3) A revolutionary work? Controversial? High-risk (her job or reputation on the line in recommending it for publication once it had been edited down to size and readability.

1. Moronic background or blood of reader?

E. First sentence of MA! Reaction orgasmic? Dynamite? (or does she have reservations about trashiness for such an ambitious work of art)? Arguments re pandering to public?

F. Her expectations regarding me before we meet. Young? Tall dark and handsome?

G. Our personal relationship/love affair?

1. Stormy relationship.

     a. My paranoia concerning conspiracy to prevent publication.

     b. My macho attitude toward editors and females. Condescending?

     c. Footnotes, syntax and grammar, style, substance (arguments over theme of book?) Mysogenistic overtones (to put it mildly). Pornography?

2. Deepening intellectual affair develops into love affair? Foreplay temptations? Is she tempted by repeated references to foreplay to test my expertise? Credibility? Truth of the book? Has she been unable to verify everything in it but foreplay expertise is genuine!

3. Need for distance, objectivity--difficult to maintain when working with such a charismatic figure! Such a mind! Dazzling luminescence!

H. Jayne Mansfield (figure)? Muse? Does she look like Mansfield? Dumb blonde problem? She is represented in the book as Jayne Mansfield--tribute to her muse-like influence or role she played? (I was a wreck when she began working with me?). Playne Jayne? Jane Plain? She is a plain Jane! Spinsterhood in her future?

1. Her reactions to MA as a female, as a professional reader looking for best sellers.

I. The gamble to recommend publication. It pays off? A publishing coup, historymaking publishing coup?

1. Comic masterpiece but profound message!

J. Changed her life/career? Will book wake up America as it woke her up?