Usually, I would not think of making book reviews on assigned reading materials, but I have to admit—these history-related books were and are quite intriguing. Whenever I am “assigned” to read something that does not come out of my own freewill to do so, even if it is reading, I dread it—especially if there’s an assignment with it. Nobody wants to be forced to do something and then having to do extra work for it! Luckily, this was not the case for me this semester—I have been assigned to read some thought provoking, interesting, eye-opening books that definitely enriched my knowledge on certain events of the past. I would not say that each of the books I am reviewing are phenomenal - some were slow to read, but nonetheless they were decent reading material—good enough to at least write about. Although I had to write extensive analytical papers or really long book quizzes for some of these reads, I actually enjoyed reading them, and I hope that maybe I will spark an interest in you to read them as well.
Before I start, I am going to book review four books that I read for my U.S. Contemporary History class, and then I'll do a separate blog post/book review on my other class. Hope you enjoy my reviews!
American Hippies by W.J. Rorabaugh (✭✭✭✭)
The author does an excellent job in explaining the historical context, or background, of the events and movements that led up to the creation of hippies. It also mentions prominent members of the Beatniks, in which provided a basis for hippie counterculture, like the famous Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsburg. It also discusses Ken Kesey, as some of you may know—he wrote the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and he was actually a big supporter of LSD. In fact, Kesey gave up his career as a writer to promote LSD. He believed that the purpose of LSD was to have fun and be free; the drug apparently allowed him to question cultural assumptions, therefore, he wanted to bring universal enlightenment to society and to have everyone experience it. This author, who turned into an LSD crazed hippie, started a nationwide tour called Merry Pranksters, in which was a celebratory approach with the goal of flooding the nation with LSD quickly and democratically—on a massive scale—in order to create a cultural revolution. This actually became a stepping-stone to the creation of Acid Rock. It also goes ahead and mentions the Woodstock Festival, which was 3 days of peace, love and music, and other imperative countercultural events that shook the entire nation.
I truly found this book to be very fascinating. People tend to think that the countercultural movement began in the 1970s, but it really began in the early or mid sixties when the Vietnam War first broke out. People, who were born in 1950s affluence culture, were dissatisfied with their life and felt that conformity was not the way to find their individualism. Even though some might not find reading anything history-related at all interesting as reading a fiction novel, I will say that this book is anything but boring. You will be getting a good dose of learning while you simultaneously enjoy reading about this crazy time in American history. Additionally, I think many will find a connection the hippie movement and the purpose of the counterculture, because we have all experienced what it is like to want to try something different and to break away from the things that people expect us to do; simply, it is about searching for an adventure of a lifetime and spontaneity.
All Shook Up, How Rock 'N' Roll Changed America by Glenn C. Altschuler (★★★★)
It is interesting to read about how the emergence of this thunderous, rollicking and harmonic tune represented, to many Americans, rebellion, sex, drugs, and racial integration. Although the music back then bears no comparison to the music of today’s generation, I found it amusing to read about the worries and concerns that parents had about their children listening to this supposed “God-forsaken” music. Also, I find it amazing on how a piece of rock and roll altered America in unimaginable ways; who would ever think that a piece of music could lead to immense social changes.
Rock and roll had an everlasting effect on America while causing inconceivable problems and conflict that ended up setting forth change. The change that occurred influenced different parts of American life and culture, such as in race, generational values, and pop culture. Rock and roll made integration possible, allowed teens to find their voices through the music, and redefined a new culture that threatened pop culture. What rock and roll did was create a revolution in social trends that impacted lives and reshaped the American way of life.
If anyone is interested in learning about social changes in American society during the early 50’s to even late 60’s, this is definitely the right book! The author does a great job in engaging readers throughout the entirety of his novel, and he does a great job in having the reader journey along through the cultural transformations that rock and roll contributed to, through his words.
Three Lives for Mississippi by William Bradford Huie (★★★★★)
As I mentioned, the first chapter was tough to get through. It does not dive straightaway into the main premise, but gives the reader an overall context of the African American struggles in the South. The first chapter was about a 34 year-old African American citizen, from Alabama, by the name of Edward Aaron. A lieutenant Klansmen, Bart Floyd, wanted to be promoted to captain, and in order to prove himself to his fellow Klansmen, he had to be willing to go to any extreme measure to get “blood from any black person.” Aaron was walking home one night, with a family friend, when he was attacked and castrated by Floyd. Aaron survived the attack, but it left a deep scar in his mind and forever changed his life.
The author, Huie, was a young journalist at the time of the murders. When the three men were reported missing, he was afraid of going down South to report on it, because he was afraid that it would lead to terrible consequences that could lead to potential violence for his part. Shamefully to say, at the time, Southerners approved of these types of murder or at least did not show any objection to it. Huie at first believed that “reason and restraint have no voice,” he felt it would be a useless cause to try to report on the disappearances since nobody down there cared. But somehow, he was convinced to go down there, because Huie was a person who understood both sides. He was inspired to report the case to explain civil rights workers to the white supremacists and white supremacists to the civil rights workers.
Throughout the book, you learn more about the victims, their beliefs, humanitarian efforts, and their struggle to bring racial justice in a world and era where equality was nonexistent. This is a fantastic book, a book that you won’t want to put down.
Patty's Got a Gun by William Graebner (★★★)
Patty Hearst symbolized a misguided sixties radical, that was in the mist of cultural and social chaos, involved in the fight for a revolutionary change, and in search an exciting adventure; she also was an example of the wide variety of cultural anxieties and critical perspectives. When the seventies emerged, many Americans were searching for a sense of normalcy; Hearst’s conviction showed a sign that a new political corner had turned and that homegrown terrorism would not be allowed. Hearst and the SLA began to be viewed as small fragments of the past and of an insignificant era of social and cultural disorder; it was the end of progressive enthusiasm that was popular in the 1960s. According to the author, Hearst was a “quintessential symbol of privilege and wealth,” and therefore Hearst presented herself, in American society, as a powerful figure of what had gone wrong in the nation at the time—which was the fact that radicalism ideologies did not bring change, but crime and chaos.
Today, Patty is living the life of a free person. If you want to know about interesting and also questionable, yet an impressionable case in American history, this book might be it. I didn’t give it a high rating, because the author makes the case hard to follow and understand. It was a complex time in American history—the counterculture was shifting to radicalism and violence, and once the seventies emerged, many people just wanted to have a sense of normalcy and control in society. It was scary, exciting, and confusing time period—this then began to pave the way to the Reagan Era, or the New Right, where law and order would be enforced and respected. In the end, you still wonder if she’s innocent, a victim of kidnapping, or a true criminal. But I’ll leave you up to decide!
x, Kayla
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