Customer Reviews

People Of The Rainbow: Nomadic Utopia

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Michael Niman's book is the most objective and comprehensive study to date of the Rainbow Family of Living Light. Professor Niman utilizes numerous interviews with Family members, Forest Service officials, and other participants to present a well-rounded view of a complex social system. Of particular interest will be his comparison of the Rainbow Family to other Utopian societies of the past and present.

Having been to a few Rainbow Gatherings in my past, Niman's book caught my interest. However the book is not written only for those familiar with the Rainbow Familiy. Using a combination of participant observation and comparison to other utopian societies, Niman shows the complexity of this community of choice.

This book is an interesting account of one of North America's best kept secrets: The Rainbow Family. People of the Rainbow describes the everyday life of a subculture that still appeals to the best and simplest emotions of human nature. It is well written and the author's and character's voices jump at you with gusto. If you looking for something different and interesting to read, buy this book.

As someone who traveled with the Rainbow for a little over a year in the early 1990's, this was spot on! An avid hitchhiker, I built seed camps, kitchens, helped with clean ups and a number of other things. When I went back into "regular society" I did reminisce those days and think about them often. Most everything I've read about Rainbow has been colored with personal opinions or prejudice and I was very happy to find this book. Michael Niman did an excellent job of portraying and explaining what goes on at a Rainbow gathering. If you've ever wanted to know what it was about, I highly recommend this book. That is, if you can't get to a Rainbow gathering yourself!

As part of a church that is ministering to Rainbow People and helping the "rejected of the rejected" come to Father God who is there for them, this gives some insights into structure and issues for understanding folks within the Rainbow culture. This is a very well researched, structured and written piece of work.