We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against: The Classic Account of the 1960s Counter-Culture in San Francisco [Paperback]

Nicholas von Hoffman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1988 | ISBN-10: 0929587065 | ISBN-13: 978-0929587066

Books about the sixties have proliferated in recent years, but none has surpassed Nicholas von Hoffman’s classic account of the 1960s counter-culture in San Francisco. “In the summer of 1967,” he writes, “youth drew attention to itself by clustering in large numbers in most major American cities, where they broke the narcotics laws proudly, publicly, and defiantly. At the same time, they enunciated a different social philosophy and a new politics, and perhaps even mothered into life a subculture that was new to America. This book tries to explain what happened in the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco. For it was in the Haight that whatever happened, happened most vividly and so intensely that it drew international attention to itself.” “An impressively serious treatment.”—New York Times. “A rare example of journalism that approaches art in one direction and the best of social science in another.”—Newsweek.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An impressively serious treatment. (New York Times )

A rare example of journalism that approaches art in one direction and the best of social science in another. (Newsweek )

About the Author

Nicholas von Hoffman’s most recent book is Citizen Cohn. Mr. von Hoffman began his writing career as a newspaperman in Chicago and is also the author of Mississippi Notebook, Make-Believe Presidents, and Organized Crimes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 279 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Inc (December 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0929587065
• ISBN-13: 978-0929587066
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,068,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Real Thing, April 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against: The Classic Account of the 1960s Counter-Culture in San Francisco (Paperback)

This is the book that really explains what went on in San Francisco in 67. Von Hoffman does a wonderful job of telling the scene how it was. Ifyou want to understand hippies of the 60's read this book. It takes a different approach of the scene by not foccussing on anything, but covers everything. Von Hoffman did what most writers of the Acid era did or could not do; he was unbiased. The only down side was the strange organization. It had no chapters or real structure. Despite that fact, the book was very fluid.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Was there... did that, April 11, 2001

By 

Christopher Oakleaf "CO" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against: The Classic Account of the 1960s Counter-Culture in San Francisco (Paperback)

As one of the lead characters in this story, I was quite taken with the veracity of my performance. Nick did an amazing amount of leg work over the course of the summer, based initially on people I introduced him to. He pursued many paths of interest and covered a substantial amount of territory. The narrative, as described elsewhere, had as much structure as the situation itself allowed, which was really very little. The Haight-Ashbury was about things happening. Things, in this milieu, were not particularly planned, beyond setting a temporal framework and attempting to provide events for the framework, or just letting the events take over and flow where they would. As a followup, Stuart Loomis and the White Rabbit have recently been in contact by email as a result of a documentary on the period broadcast on PBS. Kelly avoided Vietnam and spent many years as a roady for rock and roll bands. He disappeared from view in the early eighties. Nick himself has spent a number of years recently working on plays for the stage, after a long successful career at the Washington Post. The White Rabbit gave up on the idea of pursuing a medical career and is a senior executive in Information Technology.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Kind of confused!, September 28, 2011

By 

Juliana C. Sauaia "Jubinha" (Brazil, São Paulo) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against: The Classic Account of the 1960s Counter-Culture in San Francisco (Paperback)

It's kind of a confuse book, lot's of newspaper news.. from the 60's and some texts and stories... but not well organized.