Something tells me you're not going to get a big kick out of this post. Here goes. Don't you think we all might be interested in the down-to-earth mechanics of what made IS so successful? Of course, there is the weight of all the immaterial stuff that makes one and all shout out: thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
But how exactly did this thing work? How much did it cost? Were people paid to come on, as guests and as guides? Am I being indiscrete with such questions? I profer them from out of a shock to see how the follow-up, with Gravity's Rainbow, seems to pale in comparison with what was set up here.
Please understand, I'm not rumaging for secrets, and I don't think any kind of full disclosure is possible. But it would be interesting to check on the validity of my personal hypothesis, which is that this was all done "aux frais de la princesse" which I'll translate as: totally free of charge, to the greater glory of God or some goddess.
It is thus that I have afforded you yet another opportunity to re-install the Platonic noble lie in the heart of one of the most impressive of democratic accomplishments, at least insofar as my memory allows such a judgment to stand. All you have to do is say: yes, all of this was absolutely offered, free of charge and free of fees, for the cause of IJ and DFW.
I will of course be disappointed to have to metabolize such an answer. The site was simply too good, and far too well thought out, to belong only to the spirit of gratuity.
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