Synopsis
An oral history of the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s, concentrating especially on the role played by Abbie Hoffman. More than 200 of Hoffman's friends, enemies, and colleagues gave interviews for the project.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-09-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 435 pages | | Height: | 9.8 in | | Width: | 6.5 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 28.0 oz |
Publisher's Note
Abbie Hoffman was at the center of most of the political and social tumult of the sixties, as a participant, disciple, instigator, leader, and dissident. He helped fight for civil rights in the South, organized on behalf of the poor in New York City, was the spiritual leader of the hippie generation from the Bay Bridge to the Brooklyn Bridge, and was one of the most vocal and visible counterculture guerrillas in the fight against the war in Vietnam. Steal This Dream is a captivating oral history of Abbie Hoffman and the sixties, as told by more than two hundred of those who demonstrated, protested, and lived through those tumultuous years.
In the tradition of Edie, the oral biography of Edie Sedgwick, Steal This Dream is a captivating roller-coaster ride of an oral biography of Abbie Hoffman and the sixties, told by over two hundred of those who demonstrated, protested, and lived through those tumultuous years.Abbie Hoffman was at the center of most of the political and social tumult of the sixties, as a participant, disciple, instigator, leader, and dissident. He helped fight for civil rights in the South, organized on behalf of the poor in New York City, was a leader of the Flower Power generation in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, and was one of the most vocal and visible counterculture guerrillas in the fight against the war in Vietnam. He created chaos on Wall Street, experimented with psychedelics, hashish, speed, cocaine, and free love, planned be-ins, attempted to "levitate" the Pentagon, helped to disrupt the Democratic Convention in Chicago, and was one of the forces behind Woodstock. A genius at exploiting and manipulating the media, and through them, inspiring a counterculture across the country and throughout the decade, Abbie was the most famous hippie and revolutionary of modern times.A fast-paced and utterly compelling oral history told by the people Abbie worked with, for, and against--from Tom Hayden and Jerry Rubin to Paul Krassner and Timothy Leary--Steal This Dream is the finest social history of the sixties yet written.
Industry Reviews
Through interviews with over 200 people who protested with or fought against Abbie Hoffman, Sloman does a brilliant job of capturing not only the Yippie leader, but also the successes and failures of the counterculture movement. As with any oral biography, much depends on who contributes. It seems that Sloman got nearly everyone to talk, a particularly daunting task when dealing with denizens of the counterculture. Sloman's own unorthodox credentials may have helped: a former editor-in-chief at High Times, he was also Howard Stern's collaborator on Private Parts and Miss America, and author of On the Road with Bob Dylan. Sloman shows that from a very early age, Hoffman was obsessed with appearances and attention, making this book the most fitting tribute yet written on the controversial 1960s icon. Weaving together quotes from the likes of Jerry Rubin, Anita Hoffman, Tom Hayden, Grace Slick and Timothy Leary, Sloman covers the often mythologized political and social events of the 1960s and Hoffman's part in them. Two such events are the "levitation" of the Pentagon and the disruption of the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. In many of the accounts of 1968 included here, Hoffman appears as an energetic, charming creature who manipulated the media and the kids who followed him and couldn't hide his egocentric agendas. Sloman also includes snippets from interviews with Hoffman, presented chronologically until the dissident's suicide in 1989. Whether one loves or hates the self-congratulating revolutionary, this is a fascinating work of social history, presented thoughtfully and thoroughly. 40 b&w photos. Author tour. (Aug.)
Lopate
Hoffman is best remembered as the political prankster of the New Left, a genuinely deserving claimant in 1968 America to the title of youth leader. This "oral biography" combines testimony from several dozen Hoffman friends, relatives, and rivals, moving from childhood in Worcester, MA, to his lonely suicide in 1989 at age 52. Most famous as the maverick defendant in the 1968 Chicago Seven trial, Hoffman was radicalized by the Southern voter registration drives. A counterculture legend, he was a camera hog, compulsive gambler, reckless womanizer, and incompetent drug dealer. For every anecdote about a man whose highest concern was his next sexual liaison, another reveals a passionate protester against war and water pollution. The aptly conceived biography would have benefitted from more stage-setting passages by Sloman (who has collaborated on both Howard Stern best sellers), but its approach captures the complexity, if not the depth, of this manic-depressive, always broke, wannabe celebrity revolutionary. Recommended for both public and academic libraries. Scott H. Silverman, Bryn Mawr Coll. Lib., Upper Darby, PA
Kakutani
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