Author’s Fans Chip In During Tough Times

You might recall a few months back, in response to the NYTBR “Best” American fiction list, I suggested the greatest American novel published since 1980 was Masks of the Illuminati by Robert Anton Wilson (right). As Douglas Rushkoff puts it, “Wilson will one day be remembered alongside such literary philosophers as Aldous Huxley and James Joyce.”

But today, Wilson is dying of post-polio syndrome, and his savings have pretty much run out, so an online call for assistance went out earlier this week on BoingBoing. The subcultural community quickly came through: “This morning Bob’s daughter showed up at his house in tears,” reports Wilson’s friend and caregiver, “because she had checked his PayPal account and found money for next month’s rent plus more.”

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