Elevator Repair Service's awesome "Gatz" at this year's Dublin Theatre Festival reminded me what a magnificent book this is. I finally got around to re-reading it over Christmas, savouring every syllable, and visualising the characters from the theatre production. (Hm - is regurgitating the right term here?). Even better that we hung out with the actors at the theatre festival club afterwards - including 'Gatz', and his real-life heart-surgeon father... So when I saw "Gonzo - The Life and Times of Hunter S Thompson" in IFI the other week, it made total sense to hear that he re-typed out The Great Gatsby word for word to absorb and learn its wonderful rhythms, cadences, and master-studies in character by osmosis when he was teaching himself to write. Kind of worshipping at the altar of F Scott Fitzgerald. No wonder Baz Luhrman is making a new movie out of it. Look around you and see how timely it is. Daisy, Tom, Nick - know them?
