THE FAN MAN

:''This article deals with the novel. For the notorious paraglider of sporting events, see Fan Man.
'''The Fan Man''' is a comic novel published in 1974 by the American writer William Kotzwinkle. It is told in the first-person by the narrator, Horse Badorties who speaks of himself in the third-person, a down-at-the-heel hippie living a life of drug-fueled befuddlement in New York City c. 1970. The book is written in a colorful, vernacular "hippie-speak" and tells the story of the main character's hapless attempts to put together a benefit concert featuring his own hand-picked choir of 15-year-old girls. The concert ultimately is a great success but true to form Horse is not himself in attendance having been diverted elsewhere.
Horse is a somewhat tragic, though historically humorous, character who seems to suffer from a Self-defeating personality disorder. His defining characteristic is his joy in renting or commandeering apartments which he fills with street-scavenged junk articles until full to bursting he moves on to his next "pad".