 | Where Have All the Flower Children Gone? Subjects: Protest movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Student protesters -- United States -- Interviews; Hippies -- United States -- Interviews; United States -- Social conditions -- 1960–1980; Freelance writer Gurvis chronicles the lives of dozens of aging hippies, protestors, soldiers, hawks and others "from the sixties" in this uneven collection of oral histories. Zeroing in on the "war at home," the political upheaval and popular unrest fueled by the Vietnam War, Gurvis also explores the musings of the Greatest Generation, their rebellious Age of Aquarius offspring, and the push back those Baby Boomers have gotten from Generations X and Y ("[T]he Boomers tend to be idealistic, and I think that's what's causing the division in politics now."). There are some famous names here-including the late actor and civil rights activist Ossie Davis in one of his last interviews, Vietnam veteran and Nebraska U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel, and folksinger Arlo Guthrie-but Gurvis listens to comers of every political stripe, from unwavering conservatives to those counter-culture radicals who went mainstream ("hippies in Lexuses"). Gurvis is on surer footing with her interview subjects than she is in the historical narratives that bookend most chapters. President Lyndon Johnson's support for the war gets a simplistic recap here, while Spiro Agnew's hostility toward all opponents of Vietnam policy ("nattering nabobs of negativism") is mischaracterized as an attack on protestors specifically. While some portraits, particularly those in the chapter "Communes and Radicals," are illuminating, not everyone merits inclusion; a judicious winnowing of the interviews would have produced a more focused, potent array of perspectives. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. Sandra Gurvis is a freelance writer living in Columbus, Ohio. She has written for numerous magazines and is the author of ten books, including the novel The Pipe Dreamers . |
