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Introduction:
Wow! Here is a collection of some of the best reading in and of the counterculture, bar none.Here are a few books that are either from, about or somehow relate (at least to me) to the time between the mid 60s and mid 70s.
More detailed information on a title is available when you click the link.
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The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight
by Thom Hartmann, et al
TheHighlander, July 16, 2002 - An Outstanding, Important Book - Thom Hartman has written a very important book, full of insights, ideas and historical perspective on the fate of the human race upon this earth. He caught me right from the beginning with the "in your face" statement about what has happened in the last 24 hours on earth. 200,000 acres of rainforest...
by Daniel Quinn
Amazon.com - Futurist Daniel Quinn (Ishmael) dares to imagine a new approach to saving the world that involves deconstructing civilization. Quinn asks the radical yet fundamental questions about humanity such as, Why does civilization grow food, lock it up, and then make people earn money to buy it back?
by Derrick Jensen
From Publishers Weekly - Writing with the same driven passion and intense intelligence as his critically acclaimed A Language Older Than Words, which examined the interconnections between personal and social violence, Jensen says this book "is more about racism and far more broadly hate as it manifests itself in our Western...
by Derrick Jensen
Amazon.com - Kudos to Derrick Jensen for coming up with the idea for this unique book. This is a very insightful and diverse collection of conversations with a variety of environmentally minded thinkers. These are structured as loose dialogues in which each thinker's ideas come to the fore. Not all of these discussions are strictly environmentalist (in the basic definition of the term), but all explore humanity's important connection with the Earth in myriad fashions. The.., read more at Amazon.com.
by Theodore Roszak
From Kirkus Reviews - Repeatedly, in this scholarly survey of cultural history, Roszak (History/California State Univ.; Flicker, 1991, etc.) evokes a back-to-nature philosophy, contrasting the rational philosophy of the Enlightenment with the romanticism of the noble savage; prehistoric animism and earth-mother religion... Read more at Amazon.com
by James Fadiman
SYNOPSIS - Set during the infamous "summer of love" of the 1960s, THE OTHER SIDE OF HAIGHT is the story of how lives converged in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco for three short but explosive months. A motley crew of dreamers join together in a psychedelic world of drugs, sex, and idealism. As housemates Shadow Dancer and Sweeps innocently come of age and explore all that San Francisco has to offer, a government experiment involving LSD spins.. read more at amazon.com
by Joanna R. Macy
Editorial Review - Macy has traveled widely and lived deeply: she is an "eco-philosopher" and a scholar of Buddhism. Now more than 70, she writes about her life very engagingly, from the maple tree she loved as a child on her grandfather's farm to her current home in the Bay Area; from India and Africa to Tibet, Sri... Read more at amazon.com
Towards a Council of All Beings
by John Seed, et al
Average Customer Review: - G. Merritt, Phoenix, Arizona, January 5, 2001 There I was, sitting in a canyon, thinking like a mountain. I read this book while sitting under a cottonwood tree at the
bottom of the Grand Canyon (a "mountain lying down"). This collection of deep-ecology essays, teachings, meditations, and poems allowed me to experience my surroundings in a new way: "Every atom in this body existed before... Read more at amazon.com
How 50 Million People Are Changing the World
by Paul H. Ray, et al
Amazon.com - Do you "give a lot of importance to helping other people and bringing out their unique gifts?" Do you "dislike all the emphasis in modern culture on success and 'making it,' on getting and spending, on wealth and luxury goods?" Do you "want to be involved in creating a new and better way of life for... Read more at amazon.com
by Timothy Miller
Editorial Review - Pam Hanna, Thoreau, New Mexico, April 25, 2000 - A Suprising Legacy Although it has become fashionable to denigrate the whole hippie era as ineffective and counterproductive, Timothy Miller does much in this book to set the record straight about the considerable legacy of the Counter Culture -- for better or for worse.
From the ethics of sex, dope and rock and roll,... Read more at www.Amazon.com
by David Rey Echt
Editorial Review - Carmen L. Freeman, Boulder, CO United States, May 2, 2001 Reconnect with a memory buried deep inside. In today's impersonal, sometimes overly materialistic world, reading Messenger from the Summer of Love was like deeply inhaling into a peppermint-saturated mouth. In either case, the experience is invigorating, intoxicating, and causes a sense of renewal for the tired soul. Once I began the journey... Read more at amazon.com
(Peace and Conflict Resolution)
by Timothy Miller
Editorial Reviews - From Library Journal - As a historian of both the counterculture and non-mainline spirituality, Miller (religious studies, Univ. of Kansas; The Hippies and American Values) has a properly broad perspective from which to view U.S. communalism. In this sequel to The Quest for Utopia in 20th-Century America (Syracuse Univ.,... read more at amazon.com
by Todd Gitlin
Book Description - Say "the Sixties" and the images start coming, images of a time when all authority was defied and millions of young Americans thought they could change the world--either through music, drugs, and universal love or by "putting their bodies on the line" against injustice and war.
Todd Gitlin, the highly regarded writer, media critic, and professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, has written an authoritative and compelling account of this supercharged decade--a...read more at amazon.com
by Gayle Lemke, Bill Graham, Jacaeber Kastor (Editor), David Graham
Editorial Reviews San Francisco Chronicle, Regan McMahon ...a comprehensive, gorgeously reproduced and chronologically arranged collection...
Book Description - Legendary impresario Bill Graham began in January 1966 to commission posters to promote the concerts he was putting on at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium. The poster artists created vivid, irreverent banners that reflected their own sense of poetics, style, and wit. What resulted were signature ... read more at amazon.com
Photographs
by Lisa Law (Photographer)
Book Description - Woodstock, the Human Be-In, the Monterey Pop Festival, the Summer of Love, hanging out with the Beatles, Dylan, Ginsberg, Joplin, Warhol, Cher, Leary, the Velvet Underground - photographer Lisa Law was there for it all, chronicling a cultural revolution and taking readers along for the ride. "Law has produced a book of depth, beauty, and impact - she has captured the heart of the '60s."
A History of the Psychedelic Poster
by Ted Owen, Denise Dickson
Book Description - Sixties psychedelic poster art has stretched beyond the ephemeral and functional nature of its design to become highly collectable and internationally recognized. High Art explores both the creation of psychedelia and the imagery born of this movement. It covers the Avalon and Fillmore ballrooms who commissioned the art, the UFO Club in London and features leading American artists, profiles of British artists and it describes the collectors' experience.
Inner Mysteries of the Native American Way (The 'Earth Quest' Series)
by Chokecherry Gall Eagle, Chokecherry Gall Eagle
Synopsis - Medicine man Chokecherry Gall Eagle reveals the authentic core of two powerful Native American teachings. Chokecherry Gall Eagle says he has been given "permission" for one time only to bring out this knowledge for all to read, breaking the barrier against sharing the wisdom outside Native culture. Radiating with a rare authenticity, the book also includes warnings about common illusions and pitfalls of false shamanism.
The Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love and High Times in the Wild West
by Joel Selvin
Editorial Reviews -The 1967 San Francisco Summer of Love has so passed into the national mythology that it's an era-defining term like World War II or the Depression. Feeling that much of what is commonly known about it is wrong, Selvin chronicles the real events of the extended Summer of Love, 1967-71, after which the crass 1970s overpowered the national consciousness. Documenting the events of an era that was philosophically opposed to structure is a daunting task, but Selvin succeeds. Names, dates, recording sessions, and concerts are the stuff of much of the documentation, and so are drug busts and jail terms. The cast of characters includes usual suspects Ken Kesey ... see the rest at Amazon.com
by Terry H. Anderson
Synopsis - Why did millions of Americans become activists in the 1960s; why did they take to the streets? These are questions Terry Anderson explores in this searching history of the social activism that defined a generation of young Americans and that called into question the very nature of "America." "Anderson does the nearly impossible, giving us historical and intellectual synthesis." --The Seattle Times. 32 halftone illustrations.
Journeying on the Red Road
by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man
Book Description - This practical sequel to Mother Earth Spirituality outlines the history of the Rainbow Tribe, further explores the Native American teachings, and shows how they can be applied to contemporary life in our cities and suburbs.
Synopsis - The author of Mother Earth Spirituality relates the history of the Rainbow Tribe and shows readers how the Nature Way, described in detail in Mother Earth Spirituality, can be integrated into
the seemingly incompatible lifestyles of today's urban and suburban dwellers. Ed McGaa, Eagle Man is an Oglala Sioux writer, lecturer, and ceremonial leader.
Native American Paths to Healing Ourselves and Our World
by Ed McGaa, Marie N. Buchfink (Illustrator)
Book Description - An Oglala Sioux's introduction to Native American philosophy, history, and rites that teaches us how to reconnect with and help heal our wounded Mother Earth.
Synopsis - Mixing natural spirituality, a belief that humannity is rooted in a living, feeling earth, and an awareness of scientific ecological principles, Eagle Man draws on centuries of Native American wisdom to offer practices and ceremonies that re-establish a nurturing relationship with nature.
by The Beatles
Amazon.com - After all these years, is there anything new to say about the Beatles?
Only if you go straight to the guys who haven't had their full say: the Beatles themselves and their closest confidants. The Beatles Anthology has kaleidoscope eyes--and perceptive ones at
that...
by Don Monkerud (Editor), Malcolm Terence (Editor),
Susan Keese (Editor)
Editorial Review - Bruce Anderson, Editor, Anderson Valley Advertiser
Im not putting you on when I tell you that I opened it for a dip and kept on for the full swim. I think what youve got here is not only fascinating in its own right, but severs as well as an accurate history of the time and the phenom ... Not that only veterans of bonfires and big naked piles will be the only people likely to love your book ... Id say it has cross-over appeal ... I like your book very, very much and will roll out in the mighty AVA on its behalf as the absolute best memoir of that time.
by Alicia Bay Laurel
Book Description - When we depend less on industrially produced consumer goods, we can live in quiet places. Our bodies become vigorous; we discover the serenity of living with the rhythms of the earth. We cease oppressing one another.
The thirtieth anniversary edition of Living On The Earth maintains the innocence, lyricism and whimsy of the original, enriched with current information on sustainable technology and protection of the environment. At once a practical manual of recipes and directions for creating from scratch all of life's basic amenities and some of its frivolities, an influential artist book with an instantly identifiable style, an insider's view of the Utopian commune movement of the early seventies, and a spiritually uplifting lifestyle book, Living On The Earth continues as a beloved addition to our bookshelves.
What You Don't Know About the Deaths of Jim Morrison,
Tupac Shakur, Michael Hutchence, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Phil O
by Alex Constantine
Oh, the darkside!
Book Description - Since the sixties, musicians have been outspoken and powerful proponents for social change, making them a threat to those eager to maintain the status quo. Typically fond of drugs, they also make easy targets for investigation and exploitation. In this comprehensive look at more than a dozen suspect rock star deaths, conspiracy researcher Alex Constantine delves into the secrets that the record industry, organized crime, and even the FBI and CIA don't want uncovered. And more!
by Dalai Lama
Powerful message to be had from this book - I have found a new insight into living and I think anyone who reads this will also.
Editorial Review Amazon.com - In a modern society characterized by insensitivity to violence, ambivalence to the suffering of others, and a high-octane profit motive, is talk of ethics anything more than a temporary salve for our collective conscience? The Dalai Lama thinks so. In his Ethics for the New Millennium, the exiled leader of the Tibetan people shows how the basic concerns of all people--happiness based in contentment, appeasement of suffering, forging meaningful relationships--can act as the foundation for a
universal ethics.
by Peter Coyote (Preface)
Editorial Review - Amazon.com - As the generation that launched America's counterculture in the 1960s matures into its gray ponytails and 401(k) plans, one might expect the autobiographies of its celebrities to be tinged with apology for goals unrealized. Indeed, with only a few notable exceptions, such as Peter Fonda's Don't Tell Dad, most celebrity autobiographies from '60s pop culture icons seem rooted in either bitterness or desperation. Fortunately, in Sleeping Where I Fall, Peter Coyote neither apologizes for his wild days nor waxes romantic for them. Nor should he.
The Soul's Journey into the Mystery of Mysteries
by Deepak Chopra
Editorial Review - Amazon.com - God is not a person or a thing but rather a process, according to world-renowned author and spiritual leader Deepak Chopra. The purpose of this ambitious book is to assure readers that anyone can engage in this process--"it isn't a matter of faith, religious teaching, innate goodness, luck or some other mysterious factor," Chopra explains. "Our brains are hardwired to find God." This hardwiring is deftly explored as Chopra lists the seven ways humans know God and how they correspond to the anatomy of our human brains. He devotes a chapter to each of the seven visions of God: "Protector," "Almighty," "God of Peace," "Redeemer," "Creator," "God of Miracles," and "Pure Being--I am." In every chapter he asks and answers the same questions for the readers: "Who am I?" "How do I fit in?" "How do I find God?" The format works well, helping to tame this broad discussion while also illuminating the different personality types that are attracted to these seven different visions.
by Sunniva Harte
Book Description - Zen Gardening places every aspect of creating a Zen garden at the hands of today's gardeners. This unique book simplifies the complex principles adopted centuries ago by Buddhist monks, explores their aims in creating outdoor spaces along Zen principles, and reveals the meaning of the different elements and their juxtaposition.
Gardeners will learn to create a controlled and harmonious environment-and, in the process, to nourish the spirit and allow anxiety to gently subside, making room for quiet reflection.
by Holly Blue Hawkins
The author, Holly Blue Hawkins, hollyblue@earthlink.net,
BRING DRUMMING INTO YOUR LIFE, RELATIONSHIPS, & CEREMONIES.
Book Description - This is a different kind of drumming guide: In addition to exploring several approaches to rhythm and learning how to take good care of a drum, you will also find meditations to help focus your attention on a particular purpose or dedication, things to consider when you are ready to start a drum circle in your community, and step-by-step instructions on how to create ceremonies of your own. In The Heart of The Circle, drumming returns to its traditional role as a means of communication and heart connection, a vehicle for personal fulfillment, group unification, community and team building. Whether you want to use drumming for personal expression and relaxation, or as an activity for friends and family, this book is for you. There are sections on The Basics of Rhythm, The Care & Feeding of Drums, Finding a Drum of Your Own, Creating Ceremonies & Starting a Drum Circle, and Resources to help you find, buy, and learn more about drums, drummers, and drumming. Welcome to The Heart of The Circle!
by Gurney Norman, Ed McClanahan (Designer)
Perhaps you can remember this story from the little side bars from The Last Whole Earth Catalog. Re-live some of the adventures of Divine Right and his girlfriend, Estelle as they travel across the county in Urge, D.R.'s psychedelic VW microbus.
The First Unabridged Modern Translation of the Classic Indian
Text [UNABRIDGED]
by Alain Danielou (Translator)
Book Description: - Amazon.com - The galaxy of pleasures in Alain Daniélou's translation of the Kama Sutra takes you back to an India where sexuality was an integral part of life and an avenue to spiritual bliss. As Devadatta Shastri says in his commentary: "At the moment when the peak of bliss is attained, the internal and external world vanish. The man and woman cease to be separate entities and lose themselves in the beatitudes of being." Daniélou's elegant rendering includes not only the entire sutra, much of which is excluded in other versions, but two essential commentaries as well. More than just a pillow book, the Kama Sutra is a guide to the labyrinth of sexual etiquette, from how to bathe before meeting a lover to how lovers should entertain each other after making love. Admittedly, the text is dated and culture bound in places; it can be chauvinistic, bizarre, and even violent. The commentators are careful to point out, however, that the work is an overview of all sexual practices, some of which are not recommended. Take from this encyclopedia of amour what you will and let it keep you moving down the path of spiritual practice. --Brian Bruya
Their Sex, Drugs, Music and Impact From the Sixties to the Present
by Skip Stone, Martin Trip (Editor)
Book Description: - Skip Stone, the author of Hippies From A to Z has spent a considerable effort to bring you a taste and a better understanding of a time, past. His effort has culminated into the definitive (re)source of information on a time, a culture and the people of the hippy generation.
In the first part of the book, Skip covers the movement via the following headings - the way of the hippy, sex, drugs, fashions, lifestyles, activism and many more topics. Frequently, quotes, lyrics, clips, etc.. gently break up the the body of the book. These breaks all seem to relate to the content of the story as you read.
The second part of the book is a detailed reference of the time, (a very nice time line) the musicians and the music, hippy havens, famous hippies, friends, enemies and a very complete hippy glossary. This is a wonderful collection of informationabout this cool time in history.
The events and personalities and how they influenced the
following generations, come to life in this book. Hippies From A to Z is a must have reference for that exciting time in our history.
Also, you need to check out his famous hippy website at-
HIPPY.COM
(Facsimile Editon)
by Allen., Editor Cohen
Mentioned this beautiful book in last month's issue. Way cool - the graphics, articles and the advertising.. just enjoyed the hell out of this wonderful publication.
Book Description: - The San Francisco Oracle, published in the Haight-Ashbury from 1966 to 1968, was one of the most unique and beautiful publications of the 60's. It is remembered for it's extraordinary graphic design by major San Francisco artists, its rainbow colors and the cultural explorations and breakthroughs in its articles, interviews and poetry. At its height, over 120,000 copies of each issue of The Oracle were printed and distributed, and each copy was read by many people. The Oracle is quoted and praised in most of the histories of the 60's. Writers who appeared in The Oracle include: Gary Snyder, William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Alan Watts, Stephen Levine, Lenore Kandel, Tim Leary, Michael McClure, Paul Krassner, Buckminster Fuller, Carl Rogers, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass), Robert Theobald, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and others. Artists include many of the great San Francisco Poster artists such as: Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelly, Bruce Conner, Michael Bowen and Gary Grimshaw.
by Alvin Toffler
Ah, an adventure into social science - Future Shock starts a great trilogy of explaining our present and predicting our future. I have really enjoyed these books to help find our place in the present based on what has happened in the past. We are now where the industrial age is hitting up against the information age. There is much conflict at this juncture and it is interesting the way Alvin Toffler explains this. Check it out
and get a different perspective on our times.Also check out the Third Wave and Powershift!
Haight-Ashbury 1965-1970
by Barney Hoskyns
Reviews - San Francisco Chronicle, Regan McMahon ...as a kind of Cliffs Notes to the era, it is accurate and
evenhanded (to a fault). The best thing about it is the full-page black-and-white photographs of musicians and key figures such as Chet Helms, Bill Graham and Neil Cassady by photographers including Herb Greene, Baron Wolman and Gene Anthony.
Synopsis - This electrifying portrait by the acclaimed author of "Waiting for the Sun" recounts the story of the psychedelic culture that galvanized the Bay Area during that mythic time when "The Haight" emerged as the mecca of the counterculture. 150 illustrations, many in full color Print ads.
by David Margolis
Can a romantic young man find love in a 60s commune? - False modesty aside, I think CHANGE OF PARTNERS is probably the most loving and accurate account of Sixties communal living to appear in American fiction. It's also a very raunchy book--I can't believe I wrote some of this stuff, let alone that I actually lived through some of it. Publishers Weekly called CHANGE OF PARTNERS "sweet-spirited," referred to me as a "natural storyteller," and praised the novel for capturing the Counterculture's special "blend of innocence and self-indulgence." I will be interested to hear readers' responses and reveries
by Robert W. Norris
Review - Hey if my number would have been close in '72, I am not sure what I would have done had I been drafted. Robert's story is of a man who had been sentenced to a year of hard time in a military prison for being a conscientious objector during the Viet Nam war and his travels from Paris to Calcutta.
In an effort to find his place in this crazy life by dealing with his reflections, trails and experiences during this journey, the main character David, meets and shares many exciting adventures with several interesting people along the way.
Here is a nice little cut from the book..
"As an individual, I'd like to create change in the world. But, as far as I can see, the better way is through art, expression, literature, music, and poetry rather than through politics. This must seem to you a very naive and immature opinion. It's the only one I have, though, the only one that makes any sense to me, simple as it is."
Is this just a story of an adventurous young man and his travels, an indulgence in politics or a study in philosophy? I am not real sure but it was a very enjoyable read and I highly recommend it.
Do take the time to read the Amazon.com interview with the author and learn a bit more about Robert and his works.
Robert, thanks so much for sharing your writing with me!
by Jack Kerouac
Review - Soooo, you're dreaming about going on the road? Traveling from the west to the east coast and the other wayround? Maybe this might help out to strengthen your dreams a bit. Although it's not taking place in the sixties, more to the late forties, it's still the kind of story that could as well happen during the summer of love. Sal Paradise meets up with a hyper-hyperactive guy filled with the most strange ideas and therefore far to fascinating to be ignored. So they become friends....and the rest tells itself. Of course, the insiders know how autobiographic the story is but that's a whole story of it's own. It might be sufficient to say that the hyper-hyper active guy was Neil Cassady in real life (or so I'm told) and therefore it might be something like part of a biography about him. And if you happened to know for how long he was on the bus, literally and figurative....well this was just one phase. On little wording to end with: when you start reading this book for the first time, you'll try your best to give up your whole life and loves to read it out at once. So, good luck!
Moderators Note:
This month's review came from Yvonne - ydgroot@elnet.nl - Thanks..
by Wallace H. Black Elk, William S. Lyon (Contributor)
Book Description - In a first-person narrative, a Lakota shaman blends an explanation of the mystery and ritual of the sacred pipe with a lively account of growing up Native American.
Synopsis - "Black Elk opens the Lakota sacred hoop to a comic humanism for everyone. His book will stretch the common definition of shamanism and lift the Buckskin Curtain to the characters behind the great visions." --Kenneth Lincoln (author of Native American Renaissance)in the San Francisco Chronicle.
by Allen Ross, John Beheler (Illustrator)
This is an interesting book, in that helped me get a better insight on the religion and beliefs of the Native Americans. Just like Dr. Ross, you will find yourself asking the same questions, are all the relationships mentioned coincidental or synchrosistic? If you are open to new ideas, this is a good read.
Synopsis - Winner of the 1992 "Top 50" Recognition Award at the Frankfort International Bookfair, Mitakuye Oyasin is an American Indian "Roots" story. It compares the myths and legends of the American Indian with the world's major philosophies and religions. The books is in its 5th printing. It is a bestseller in Europe with translations in French and German. The book is being used in 27 universities and 182 high schools. A few of the areas in which the book is being used are: Psychology, Comparative Religions, Native American Studies, Philosophy, Counseling and Guidance. A teacher's guide is also available. (Bear Publishing)
by Roger Yepsen (Editor)
Get your hands dirty!
Synopsis - Discover the secrets of old-time gardeners and their time-tested organic techniques to make a garden grow more beautiful and bountiful. "1,001 Old-Time Garden Tips" features an incredible selection of advice from successful 17th-, 18th-, 19th-, and early 20th-century gardeners on everything from how to read weather signs to how to improve soil quality, plus recipes for tasty dishes, drinks, and herbal seasonings. 150 illustrations Targeted national ads. .
by Timothy Leary, William S. Burroughs
Synopsis: - From planning the psychedelic revolution with Allen Ginsberg, Peggy Hitchcock, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti to discussing Dr. Albert Hoffman's legendary bicycle ride home after the world's first deliberate ingestion of LSD, Timothy Leary's passion affected an entire culture and influenced modern world history. Leary's original, animated, and psychedelic autobiography is now repackaged in an all new edition.
by Abbie Hoffman, Izak Haber, Bert Cohen
Synopsis - In 1970, Abbie Hoffman conceived the idea for his most ambitious book project yet. He had begun criss-crossing the country, ferreting out alternative ways of getting along in America--some illegal, but most of them having to do with survival techniques. Steal This Book captures the spirit of those years, describing actions and techniques that were already in use in all 50 states. Illustrations, photos & cartoons.
You can also get to Abbie Hoffman's original book from the same link above
A New Way to Garden in Less Space With Less Work
by Mel Bartholomew
Time to start thinking on that garden for next year and perhaps a better way to be more productive with less space.
Synopsis - Square Foot Gardening presents a new way to garden in less space with less work. The book has been overwhelmingly accepted by gardeners across America. Bartholomew also hosts the popular PBS series of the same name. 37 photos. 63 illustrations and charts.
by Robert A. Heinlein
By suggestion - read this book way back when. It is worth checking out.
Amazon.com - Stranger in a Strange Land, winner of the 1962 Hugo Award, is the story of Valentine Michael Smith, born during, and the only survivor of, the first manned mission to Mars. Michael is raised by Martians, and he arrives on Earth as a true innocent: he has never seen a woman and has no knowledge of Earth's cultures or religions. But he brings turmoil with him, as he is the legal heir to an enormous financial empire, not to mention de facto owner of the planet Mars. With the irascible popular author Jubal Harshaw to protect him, Michael explores human morality and the meanings of love. He founds his own church, preaching free love and disseminating the psychic talents taught him by the Martians. Ultimately, he confronts the fate reserved for all messiahs.
An Inquiry into Values
by Robert M. Pirsig
I selected this book by suggestion from a member of the list.
Review by Amazon.com
Arguably one of the most profoundly important essays ever written on the nature and significance of "quality" and definitely a necessary anodyne to the consequences of a modern world pathologically obsessed with quantity. Although set as a story of a cross-country trip on a motorcycle by a father and son, it is more nearly a journey through 2,000 years of Western philosophy. For some people, this has been a truly life-changing book. --This text refers to the audio cassette edition of this title
by Thomas Wolfe, Tom Wolfe
Oh, the memories! Just started this book for the first time and have been having a wild, psychedelic trip down memory lane. The times, the people, and the events that shaped (in many ways) a lifestyle we all remember.
Enjoy!
by Carlos Casteneda
The first book in Carlos Castaneda's fascinating saga detailing his spiritual journey toward knowledge and enlightenment via the Yaqui sorcerer, Don Yuan. This classic book is a dazzling
work of wisdom, mystery and magic, and an intriguing look at the world of alternate reality.
by Douglas Adams
Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway. Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend, researcher Ford Prefect. Together they hitch a ride to parts unknown, encounter creatures unheard of, and take part in comic adventures unparalleled. Previously published by Pocket Books.
by Hunter S. Thompson, Ralph Steadman
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page. It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.
by Rampa, T. Lobsang
When Rampa left his wealthy home to enter the monastery, his heart was filled with trepidation. This is his story, a deeply inspiring journey of awakening within the Chakpori Lamasery, the temple of Tibetan medicine. A moving tale of passage through the mystic arts. Reissue.
By Duncombe, Stephen
In a comprehensive study of zine publishing, Stephen Duncombe describes zine origins in early 20th-century science fiction cults, their more proximate roots in the sixties' counter-culture and their rapid proliferation in the wake of punk rock. Packed with extracts and illustrations from a wide array of publications, past and present, this is the first book to explore the full range of zine culture. 50 illus. 288 pp.
by Thich Nhat Hanh
In this modern spiritual classic, a world spiritual leader and Zen master shows how to adapt simple Zen principles for daily living and the way to peace. Peace Is Every Step offers ways to use everyday events--washing dishes, eating a meal, sitting in traffic--in the quest for peace and fulfillment. From the forward by H.H. Dali Lama, "Although attempting to bring about world peace through the internal transformation of individuals is difficult, it is the only way". This IS the way to peace! My daughter turned me on to this one and I found it to be a must read.
By Perry, Paul / Babbs, Ken
The setting is the 1960s with the Psychedelic Revolution as the backdrop. Twenty youths crossed America in a psychedelically painted school bus for an entire month. This legendary trip's 25th anniversary is a rare document of a nation in transition. 16 color, 75 black-and-white photos.
Reginald Laubin, et al
This definitive work covers all aspects on the Indian Tipi including materials and construction to ceremonies, uses & transportation. This should be called the Tipi Bible.
By Trager, Oliver
Filled with over 200 photographs -- many of which have never been published -- The American Book of the Dead:The Definitive Grateful Dead Encyclopedia is perfect for Deadheads, and is as The Rock-n-Roll Readers Guide says: "A rare encyclopedia that should be savored from beginning to end. Essential." Guru Jerry may be gone, but The Dead live on with this incredible book.
by Rampa, T. Lobsang)
The remote lamaseries of Tibet, the age-old repositories of wisdom--it was here that T. Lobsang Rampa learned the secrets of hypnotism, telepathy, clairvoyance and reincarnation. Here is the provocative true story of his enlightenment--the long-awaited sequel to The Third Eye! Reissue.
By Lee, Martin A./ Shlain, Bruce
The complete social history of LSD and the counterculture it helped to define in the [sixties], as well as the CIA's massive research program in which unwitting citizens were used as guinea pigs in a turbulent period in our [history]. [drugs] Annotation by Inland Book Company
By Burns Charles (Ilt) - PUBLISHER: Kitchen Sink Pr - PUB DATE: 09/94 - ISBN: 0878162984 - BINDING: Paperback -
By Estren, Mark James - PUBLISHER: Ronin Pub - PUB DATE: 10/92 - ISBN: 091417164X - EDITION: 4th - BINDING: Paperback -This fourth volume contains over a thousand drawings by such comics legends as Robert Crumb, Bill Griffith, & Trina Robbins. The most lavish collection ever to appear in one book! Traces the roots of underground comics & explores their unabashed success. Annotation by Inland Book Company
By Peck, Abe
PUBLISHER: Citadel Pr - PUB DATE: 06/91 - ISBN: 0806512253 - EDITION: 1st Ed. - BINDING: Paperback
Carlos Castaneda
His legend and his power have grown throughout two generations, in five astonishing volumes. In this landmark work, the legendary don Juan concludes the instruction of Castaneda with his most powerful and mysterious lessons in the sorcerer's art. It is a dazzling series of visions that are at once an initiation and a deeply moving farewell.
Brad Wieners (Editor), et al
In 1955, The Family of Man envisioned humanity in its emerging global village. Now, Burning Man captures humanity celebrating newly found opportunities, an explosion of expression, the deep desire to create, and the ecstatic rediscovery of the body in a networked world. Award-winning designer John Plunkett combines hundreds of incredible photos with six essays to showcase the Digital Revolution's infectious optimism for a better world. Full-color photos.
Amazon.com - Many things have been said recently about artist Robert Crumb, arguably the only creative force from the American 1960s who not only continues to produce work, but also continues to get better and better. The Complete Crumb Comics traces that progress. Volume 12 encompasses work from the late...
Virginia Stem Owens
Reviewer: Nancy Owen Nelson -I picked up this book by happenstance on a sale table and was drawn to the title and the cover, which illustrates a beautiful sunset in the Southwest. Within, I was interested to revisit some of the societal issues of the 1970's, including the rebellion against middle-class values and life styles on the part of idealists, people who wish to try out their ideals in a communal living situation. While the communal experience, as related by Owens, is in many places unsatisfying to the reader for its many frustrations, disappointments, and its ultimate failure, she makes no secret from the very beginning of the outcome of the venture. Owens' description and commentary on male/female relationships challenges the notion that we have grown beyond the traditional expectations and modes of behavior. Owens' realistic look at the disappointments of human behavior reinforce what any thoughtful person has found in trying to get along with others.Overall, the book is valuable to remind us of efforts to create ideal societies. It is less satisfying in its somewhat pat conclusions about the answers to these efforts in a traditional Christian theology. However, Owens is real enough not to force the theology and to show that even those of faith have periods of despair and confusion.
Joseph Bruchac
Booklist - Bruchac has written many books about Native American legends both for adults and children, although more successfully for the latter than the former. In spite of the fact that this succinct history of the sweat lodge is written in Bruchac's characteristically simplistic style, it will hold the interest of adult readers. Bruchac presents a thrifty and cogent explanation of the function and role of sweat lodges both historically and in the present. Sweat lodges are part of nearly every native North American culture and have always played an important role in rituals of healing, preparation, and prayer.
Jim Derogatis
What began as a musical attempt to recreate the hallucinogenic experience of rock music has evolved into an ambitious approach to rock 'n roll that continues to expand the boundaries of music. More than just a sound, psychedelic rock is a philosophy, a way of creating the "cinematic music of the imagination." Whether readers were present at Ken Kesey's acid trips, or cut their musical teeth on Sonic Youth, this book will be provocative and fascinating reading.
By Henke, James (Edt.) and Puterbaugh, Parke (Edt.)
Whether you turned on, tuned in, dropped out, or just stood by, you know the psychedelic movement and its music are unforgettable. It is an era that remains a legend to boomers and slackers everywhere. Celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Summer of Love with this definitive volume from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum--an incredible time capsule of a document that ties in with the museum`s first major exhibition since its grand opening. Including classic as well as rare, previously unreleased images, lyrics, and paraphernalia from the wildest moments of 1965--1969, and boasting an eye-stopping cover as psychedelic as its subject, this is the spectacular official tribute to all the style, sound, peace, and power of the infamous Summer of Love.
Andy Warhol, Pat Hackett
Anecdotal, funny, frank, POPism is the ultimate inside story of a decade of cultural revolution. Andy Warhol's own story of the 1960s and the extraordinary scene that surrounded his studio--The Factory. Illustrated.
Fletcher, Colin
Amazon.com - Colin Fletcher is a self-described "compulsive walker." It is not unusual for him to pick up a map, drive to an area that intrigues him, and then start walking. It should come as no surprise then that a detour from U.S. 66 to visit the Grand Canyon on a June morning in 1963 inspired...
By Partridge, William L.
"The Hippie Ghetto" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy.
By Gitlin, Todd
With verve and brilliance, Gitlin vividly brings to life the years when an entire generation revelled in its power to shape history and society, as the New Left emerged from the disaffection of the '50s to take a powerful stand in the activism and violent upheavals of the '60s. Completely updated.
By Cain, Chelsea
Amazon.com - This memoir by 24-year-old Chelsea Cain, who grew up on a commune in the Iowa outback, recounts her nostalgia for her toddler years, when her parents picked berries, puffed pot, and plucked the banjo while the outside world seemed to be going straight to hell. Deciding that her caffeinated modern...
By Harland, John
John Harland tells of he and his girlfriend setting out to try different alternative lifestyles until they found the one that suited them. While the philisophical discussion here can be interesting, overall the book tends toward the preachy side.
By Pelletier, Cathie
The author of The Bubble offers a "tender, funny, coming-of-middle-age novel" (Philadelphia Inquirer). In this bitingly witty, life-affirming odyssey for the '90s, Pelletier offers a vivid and compelling portrait of the consequences that occur when a fortysomething couple who met at Woodstock starts evolving in different directions.
Six Essays on Its Revolutionary Potential
Murray Bookchin
(Twentieth-Century Classics) Richard Farina, Thomas Pynchon (Introduction)
This is the ultimate novel of college life during the first hallucinatory flowering of what has famously come to be known as The Sixties. Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me follows haunted ur-hippy Gnossos Pappadopoulis upon return to his old university town that's just tilting into a new era, and Gnossos' involvement in a swirl of sixties-style drug taking and the search for love and the meaning of it all. It is a hilarious and haunting book.
An Alchemical Potboiler
Jim Dodge
From the Back Cover - Stone Junction is a wise and wildly imaginative novel about Daniel Pearse, an orphaned child who is taken under the wings of the AMO-Alliance of Magicians and Outlaws. An assortment of sages sharpen Daniel's wide-eyed outlook until he has the concentration of a card shark Zen master, via...
Life on a Counter-Culture Commune
Richard B. Seymour
This is a well-written chronicle of the starts, stops, misfires and joy of a radical experiment in education. I enjoyed the contrast between the introduction, written at the time of publication, and the book itself, taken from journals written nearly thirty years ago. While the hair may have grayed, the zeal has not flagged. I enjoyed the hell out of it.
An Oral History of the Kaw Valley Hemp Pickers
David Ohle, et al
From Library Journal - The Kaw Valley Hemp Pickers were marijuana harvesters around Lawrence, Kansas during the 1960s and 1970s. A variety of the weed known locally as K-pot grew plentifully, nurturing a counterculture celebrated here in a foreword by William S. Burroughs and a series of oral history excerpts by Lawrence's former hippies. Their recollections focus mainly upon drugs, sex, and violence, tales and tall tales lovingly preserved to the final raunchy detail. Alternately funny and nasty, the book is a nearly perfect memento of the utter pointlessness of the era's excesses. Readers nostalgic for ``that peace and love shit'' will go unrewarded, but a dope harvest makes a good episode. This is marginal, though, even for the deepest regional collections. - Robert F. Nardini, North Chichester, N.H.
A Handbook for Aging Hipsters
Pagan Kennedy
Take a veteran of tofu burgers and stained futons, the publisher of a 'zine, the high-patroness of thrift store shopping, and turn her into a Doris Day of aging hipsters, and the result will be something close to Pagan Kennedy. With tips on such areas as Reproduction, Work, Decorating/Home Management, and Sex, this second cousin to Tiffany's Table Manners for Teenagers provides anxious X-ers with a state-of-the-art social planner.
A Social History of the Haight-Ashbury Experience Vol 1
Hank Harrison - Catriona Watson
It's interesting to see how the book is dedicated to "Coutney,Nana and the boys at the Bohemian Club". Little did Hank know in 1980 that his daughter Courtney would wind up with Mr.Cobain, who would give the Gratful Dead a big thumbs down. Funny how life is, although the Dead and Cobain both 'blew thier brains out', Cobain did it litteraly. Maybe if Kurt read the Chapter "Encountering Neal" he might have understood what Cassady meant when he told everybody to "always keep that light lit,your candle can snuff itself,man....you can lose the wick and f*** over the candle so it can't work." Anyway,when I first read the book,I got this sense Mr.Harrison was under the care of Dr. Feelgood while he wrote. It gave me a sense of 'You Had To Be There......',that's why I read it so many times until it finally set in. It's a book for real purists. It made one out of me.
A Trip Through the Psychedelic Years (Rhino Collectible Music Series)
Alan Bisbort, Parke Puterbaugh
It was an attitude, a cultural explosion--a time when "turn on, tune in, and drop out" was the mantra of youth. This book takes a look at the whole of the "psychedelic" era--the culture and the music that it spawned. Filled with the recollections of those who were there, Groovy, Man goes behind the scenes to tell the real story of this groundbreaking period. 200 photos.Any Suggestions?
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