Taking its collective name from the wartime "underground press" of Europe's anti-Nazi resistance, the publications examined here were all members of the Underground Press Syndicate (later renamed the Alternative Press Syndicate), founded in 1967 so that member papers could freely share and reprint material. This utopian model resulted in an explosion of alternative publications worldwide as every small start-up had access to the work of soon-to-be famous writers, journalists, artists, and graphic designers. Among the notable figures whose work has appeared in these pages are Hunter S. Thompson, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Ken Kesey, R. Crumb, Art Spiegelman—to name only a few. The underground press documented everything from politics and art to film and fashion. Among the publications featured here are The Los Angeles Free Press (persecuted by the Nixon-era FBI for its antiwar views), The East Village Other (the first to adopt a psychedelic layout), Interview (founded by Andy Warhol and the first to feature homoerotic imagery), The Chicago Seed, Oracle, and The Berkeley Barb (famous for one cover showing a young man with a chain around his mind). The ideas unleashed in these now vintage publications continue to reverberate through society and influence public discourse and graphic design in the form of today's 'zines and online blogs.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"The golden age of alternative culture vividly comes to life in Free Press...Edited by French journalist Jean-Francois Bizot, this oversize tome compiles 255 pages of psychedelic graphics, down-and-dirty reportage, and newsprint images from a decade that encompassed the summer of love, Stonewall, and Watergate." -- Dec06 AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
"High energy and immediacy characterize the era's graphic design: text was often handwritten and laid out sideways, and trippy cartoons in saturated colors captured a drug-addled generation." -- Mar07 BOLDTYPE/ARTKRUSH
"A cornucopia of extravagant cartoonery and graphic design" -- 12/10/06 SEATTLE TIMES
"Jean-Francois Bizot's lavish volume, which offers beautiful reproductions of covers and inside pages from some of that era's best underground publications..." -- Nov06 NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"dense with creative sources and ideal for graphic designers and printmakers in search of their roots." -- Nov06 JUXTAPOZ
"High energy and immediacy characterize the era's graphic design: text was often handwritten and laid out sideways, and trippy cartoons in saturated colors captured a drug-addled generation." -- Mar07 BOLDTYPE/ARTKRUSH
"A cornucopia of extravagant cartoonery and graphic design" -- 12/10/06 SEATTLE TIMES
"Jean-Francois Bizot's lavish volume, which offers beautiful reproductions of covers and inside pages from some of that era's best underground publications..." -- Nov06 NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
"dense with creative sources and ideal for graphic designers and printmakers in search of their roots." -- Nov06 JUXTAPOZ
About the Author
Jean-François Bizot founded the French underground magazine Actuel in 1970. Barry Miles was a central figure of '60 counterculture and is the author of many books on the subject.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not a History Book,
By Driver9 (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Free Press: Underground and Alternative Publications, 1965-1975 (Paperback)
The edition has been updated since originally published in English. But still, the book itself was not intended as a historical document, and approaching it that way will only lead to frustration. In the copy I have, the reproductions were excellent, not blurred or faint. The original pages were on newspaper from forty years ago and so it is not the highest quality paper or print. Still, the power and exhilaration of the time does leap off the page. I think this is the perfect format for putting together an artistic rendering of the underground press. It is a celebration of the images. The stories are told elsewhere.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Serendipitous Walk,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Free Press: Underground and Alternative Publications, 1965-1975 (Paperback)
As one who was there in the halcyon days of the "underground" press, this book is a wonderful random walk through the newspapers that were published on both sides of the pond. The book was originally published in France so there is an understandable emphasis on their publications, which I found quite interesting.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Content is presented randomly, but is worth the price,
By William Bradford (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Free Press: Underground and Alternative Publications, 1965-1975 (Paperback)
I expected more than what appears to be a random selection of pages from underground newspapers; perhaps some commentary or background on the original sources. However, this is a great "coffee table" book to browse through, and I wish more of the original sources were available. Seeing a headline isn't that fun when you wish you could read the article that goes with it.
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