Tag Archives: sixties

Book Review:  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a children’s book, isn’t it? Then how came I to review it on this blog, which is devoted to literary works for adults? Not by the usual pathways, I assure you. In fact, renewed interest … Continue reading

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An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin; Part Two

As history, backed up by Dick Goodwin’s documentation, points out, John F. Kennedy was in the midst of overseeing many profound societal changes when he was assassinated, and Johnson, on assuming the presidency, became determined to see these initiatives through … Continue reading

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Book Review:  An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin; Part One

The third time’s the charm. On three different occasions I checked this book out of the library. The first two times I returned it without reading it. I was tempted by it, as I am by all things having to … Continue reading

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During Times like These

It is in times like these that people react not only politically but spiritually. While contemplating the horror story that comprises modern news, I abruptly realized that there are parallels to the state of the country during the era in … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Outside Looking In: A Novel by T. C. Boyle

T. C. Boyle has a penchant for examining countercultural issues, especially those from the sixties and seventies. One of his previous novels, Drop City, concerns a commune of hippies that decides to relocate from California to Alaska; the transplanted freaks … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel by Quentin Tarantino

I am normally not a fan of novelizations of films, but this one, after all, is written by Tarantino himself, so I figured it was worth a read. It turns out that the book is not really a novelization; that … Continue reading

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Books Make Great Gifts!

After Thanksgiving has come and gone, people commence a search for holiday gifts for family members, relatives, friends, acquaintances, in-laws, outlaws, colleagues, and sometimes total strangers. If you’re looking for fun, sophisticated, lively, intense, flamboyant, and otherwise variegated literary fare, … Continue reading

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Book Review:  Like a Rolling Stone: A Memoir by Jann S. Wenner; Part One: The Era

I have recently read several histories and memoirs of the 1960s and 1970s, some of which are newly published. For instance, Whole Earth: The Many Lives of Stewart Brand by John Markoff tells of the entrepreneurial creator of the influential … Continue reading

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Book Review:  A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead by Dennis McNally – Part Two: Locale

Although the Grateful Dead eventually toured all over the United States and around the world, their origin story is inexorably linked with the San Francisco Bay Area. The late sixties, when the Dead came to prominence, was a heady time … Continue reading

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Book Review:  A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead by Dennis McNally – Part One: Background

I don’t think I ever heard of the Grateful Dead until in 1970 at the age of seventeen I headed down to Santa Clara University from Seattle for my first and only year of college. I was immature, naive, and … Continue reading

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