From: stephenjones
Category: Amis
Date: 6/29/99
Time: 9:54:30 AM
Remote Name: 130.159.248.35
Hey enough about postmodernism, Marxism, Nabokovian influences, and all that unnecessary stuff lets get stuck into the real serious stuff, just exactly why does Amis smoke roll ups of all things?
This roll up fags affectation of Amis' is something I find quite puzzling, has he ever explained why he smokes the odious odorous little things? Surely he's not short of a few bob and could smoke "real" fags if he wanted to.
My theory is that he's either got a deathwish "realist" attitude to smoking "Filters? Like eating sweets with the wrappers on innit?", he's a real tight arse, or he thinks it makes him 'interesting', (alternatively he may just prefer them).
A couple of my friends insist on smoking roll-ups and their justifications are quite feeble "oh its a hang over from being a poor student" or "I'm just a poor student" or "I'm just a poor TEFL teacher" "or I'm just poor". If this is the case why don't they save more money and just stop smoking? I ask.
Obviously money isn't Amis' excuse and he doesn't appear to be tight with his cash, if his alleged dentistry bills are anything to go on, so my conclusion is that, for some weird reason he thinks it makes him interesting. I think it might be one of these writerly poses, like Coleridges opiates, or Thomas's drinking, or Keruoac's promiscuity or Byron's all of the above plus.