Long Time Coming and a Long Time Gone
Richard Fariña
Foreword by Joan Baez / Notes by Mimi Fariña
2025
ISBN 9798218602130 Paperback / 282 pages / $22.99
On April 30, 1966, just two days after the publication of his novel Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me, Richard Fariña was killed in a motorcycle accident near Carmel, California. He was only 29. Consequently, he never got to experience the success of his book or the widespread acclaim that labeled him as one of the most distinctive and genuine voices of his generation.
Long Time Coming and a Long Time Gone, first published in 1969, expands upon Fariña's debut novel in both scope and unflinching honesty. Not only does this collection of short stories, poems, essays, and song lyrics further exhibit his talent as a writer, but it also serves as an autobiography of sorts, recounting his highs and lows, wild trips and mind-expanding moments, along with journeys through the revolutionary scenes in Cuba and Ireland, the expatriate communities in London and Paris, the burgeoning folk rock scene in the U.S., and the human experience throughout.