The Thumbnail Book Reviews

by John Q McDonald --- 14 July 2001

1968

A History in Verse

by Edward Sanders

Nineteen sixty-eight has to have been the most tumultuous year in the 20th century. There is no end of remeniscence and analysis of that fateful and tragic time. Here, Edward Sanders (poet, musician with The Fugs, activist, writer, inventor) looks back in his own personal way at that year, and the role he played near the center of some of its most pivotal events. Sanders was acquainted with many of the other key figures in the underground at the time, Allen Ginsburg, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Country Joe McDonald, and many others. Indeed, a list of the names mentioned in this book form a veritable Who's-Who of the counterculture and political figures of 1968. This is a personal and passionate story, though. Sanders talks a little about the Fugs, and their concerts, but also of the Chicago Democratic National Convention and the war that went on in the streets outside. He reacts to the deaths of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, along the way bringing up his own convincing conspiracy theories about these events. It is a riveting personal tale. This reader doesn't know much about poetry, so can't really comment on the quality of the verse. This is a free-form poem, highly accessible. There isn't the rich florid language that characterizes some favorite poetry. This is not an exercise in rhyming, though history seems to be doing plenty of that on its own. This is history. The events are real enough, and Sanders' plain sweeping language and gentle cadence lend life and vitality to his book.

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See also: [Love in the Days of Rage by Lawrence Ferlinghetti]

[Other History and Biography]

[Other books on the 60s & Counterculture]