southern turned 60 in 1984, and his career continued to alternate between promise and disappointment. "flash and filigree" was reissued by arbor house with a new introduction by burroughs, and sandy lieberson (now at fox) hired him to work on a script called "intensive heat", based on the life of jewel thief albie baker. during this period, southern ran into problems with his long-overdue new book (a "buildingsroman" inspired by his texas childhood alternatively known as "youngblood", "southern idyll" and "behind the grassy knoll") when putnam demanded the return of the $20,000 advance, precipitating his abandonment of the work. in 1985, "candy" and "the magic christian" were reprinted by penguin and southern featured prominently in the howard brookner documentary "".