The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 19 October 1998
by Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote (an actor known for roles in Kika, Bitter Moon, and Sphere among others) has created a remarkable memoir of his sojourn through the heart of the turbulent counterculture of the 60s and 70s. Coyote was an early member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the Diggers, and the Free Family, all prominent cultural revolutionaries. He crossed paths with many notable figures of his day, from the Grateful Dead to the Hell's Angels. This memoir covers a 15-year period in which Coyote wandered about the country, living in communal households from Olema, California to Portland, Pennsylvania, and even spending a year working on Wall Street. He and his tribe were inventing new structures for society, based on communal wealth and shattered social mores. As in many autobiographies, the author appears as the hero, but Coyote's self examination, and willingness to accept alternate views of his memory, make this a gently critical and honest essay on his history. He welcomes the contradictions of the lifestyle he and his fellow communards led. He examines them in their often tragic results, but finds gems of hope within as well. This reader found the book hard to put down, wanting to know more about some of the stories Coyote tells. Perhaps it would resonate most with a certain age-group and people of a certain political predilection, but this is a worthy historical document.
[Other Books in or about California]