The Hippie Trip: A Firsthand Account of the Beliefs and Behaviors of Hippies in America By A Noted Sociologist [Paperback]

Lewis Yablonsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2000

A new, colorful, and fascinating drama has emerged on the American scene. The action involves love, spiritually free sex, dope as a religious sacrament, and a new work ethic. And so sociologist Yablonsky begins his novel, giving the reader an opportunity to join him on his hippie trip. Yablonsky delves into the hippie movement as a sociologist, a hip interviewer/reporter, and as an involved person. This book includes experiences and perceptions from all three of these integral facets of Yablonskys personality. Yablonsky combines an extensive, coherent report on hippie life with a thorough look at the movement in relation to the wider societal issues of the time. The book begins with a Preview, an introduction into the scene, and then moves onto The Trip, Yablonskys actual journey. Part III, Analysis, examines the hippie movement in its own right and within the framework of American society. Part IV, The Appendix, is a presentation of data from questionnaires filled out by over seven hundred hippies. And there is, of course, a Glossary for all of you readers who may not be familiar with the terminology of the psychedelic movement.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lewis Yablonsky was born and grew up in Newark, New Jersey and graduated from Rutgers University in 1948. He received a Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University in 1958. Dr. Yablonsky has taught sociology and criminology at the University of Massachusetts, CCNY, Columbia, Harvard and UCLA. He is currently Professor of Sociology and Chairman of the Department of Sociology at San Fernando Valley (California) State College. In 1967 he was selected from among 9000 professors in the California State College system to receive the Board of Trustees' Outstanding Professor Award for "excellence in teaching, scholarship and public service." He has since lectured, taught, and consulted throughout the world. Among his several published books are The Violent Gang (1962), Synanon: The Tunnel Back (1965), The Hippie Trip, and The Extra-Sex Factor.

Product Details

• Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (April 18, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595001165
• ISBN-13: 978-0595001163
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #664,148 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Like, wow, Sugar Cubie!, April 24, 2006

By 

J. Spaith "Mr. Crankypants" (East Coast USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hippie Trip (Pelican) (Paperback)

My my my how times change. Lewis Yablonsky's interviews and interactions (including at least one acid trip) with hippies in 1967 and 1968 make up a fascinating collection of moments, ideas and what we would now call teen angst/grunge philosophy. The book is the more interesting because it is so severely dated (and probably was by six months after its first printing). Not embarrassingly naive but pretty pie-eyed, Yablonsky's unquestioning acceptance of all the things the hippies told him makes this an entertaining period piece.

Especially interesting to me are is the total lack of references to homosexuality (still a very taboo subject in the brave new world of 1967) and the abject, almost Zen-like acceptance of "doing your own thing", whether that be your own bad trip or your own good trip or just about anything in between.

As a former Deadhead/acid user/freethinker/hippie myself I found the book very readable but not very informative. What I walked away with was a bemused feeling of how different our society is in some ways than it was in 1967.