Steal This Dream: Abbie Hoffman & the Countercultural REvolustion in America [Hardcover]

Larry Sloman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 1998

In the tradition of Edie, the oral biography of Edie Sedgwick, Steal This Dream is a captivating roller-coaster ride of an oral biography of Abbie Hoffman and the sixties, told by over two hundred of those who demonstrated, protested, and lived through those tumultuous years.

Abbie Hoffman was at the center of most of the political and social tumult of the sixties, as a participant, disciple, instigator, leader, and dissident. He helped fight for civil rights in the South, organized on behalf of the poor in New York City, was a leader of the Flower Power generation in Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, and was one of the most vocal and visible counterculture guerrillas in the fight against the war in Vietnam. He created chaos on Wall Street, experimented with psychedelics, hashish, speed, cocaine, and free love, planned be-ins, attempted to "levitate" the Pentagon, helped to disrupt the Democratic Convention in Chicago, and was one of the forces behind Woodstock. A genius at exploiting and manipulating the media, and through them, inspiring a counterculture across the country and throughout the decade, Abbie was the most famous hippie and revolutionary of modern times.

A fast-paced and utterly compelling oral history told by the people Abbie worked with, for, and against--from Tom Hayden and Jerry Rubin to Paul Krassner and Timothy Leary--Steal This Dream is the finest social history of the sixties yet written.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Although there have been other biographies of the late-'60s radical dissident and counterculture publicist Abbie Hoffman, as well as his own writings such as Steal This Book, this oral biography strikes a valuable chord. Unlike other oral biographies--particularly those organized by George Plimpton around such figures as Edie Sedgwick and Truman Capote--with snobs waffling on about nothing much, the context of Hoffman's fame amid the political struggles of the '60s and '70s fits the mold of a many-voiced, democratic narrative. The interviews were carried out, selected, and assembled by the prolific Larry Sloman, former editor at National Lampoon and High Times, author of On the Road with Bob Dylan, and coauthor of Howard Stern's Private Parts and Miss America. In his own way, Hoffman could be a "shock jock" too, but during such gripping events as the Chicago Seven trial or demonstrations agains the Vietnam War, he could be funnier and sadder than Howard Stern ever was. Plagued by manic-depressive syndrome, psychosis, substance abuse, and relational problems, he ruined his life by choosing to deal drugs, which forced him to go underground for six years late in his life. Hoffman, who died of suicide, nevertheless possessed, as Sloman, who knew him from 1967 on, writes, an "incredibly sharp wit" and "charisma" that won him friends even when he was plainly exploiting them. A lively ride of a book, one that will bring back memories for anyone who lived through these parlous times of America's history. --Benjamin Ivry

From Publishers Weekly

Through interviews with over 200 people who protested with or fought against Abbie Hoffman, Sloman does a brilliant job of capturing not only the Yippie leader, but also the successes and failures of the counterculture movement. As with any oral biography, much depends on who contributes. It seems that Sloman got nearly everyone to talk, a particularly daunting task when dealing with denizens of the counterculture. Sloman's own unorthodox credentials may have helped: a former editor-in-chief at High Times, he was also Howard Stern's collaborator on Private Parts and Miss America, and author of On the Road with Bob Dylan. Sloman shows that from a very early age, Hoffman was obsessed with appearances and attention, making this book the most fitting tribute yet written on the controversial 1960s icon. Weaving together quotes from the likes of Jerry Rubin, Anita Hoffman, Tom Hayden, Grace Slick and Timothy Leary, Sloman covers the often mythologized political and social events of the 1960s and Hoffman's part in them. Two such events are the "levitation" of the Pentagon and the disruption of the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. In many of the accounts of 1968 included here, Hoffman appears as an energetic, charming creature who manipulated the media and the kids who followed him and couldn't hide his egocentric agendas. Sloman also includes snippets from interviews with Hoffman, presented chronologically until the dissident's suicide in 1989. Whether one loves or hates the self-congratulating revolutionary, this is a fascinating work of social history, presented thoughtfully and thoroughly. 40 b&w photos. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (August 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385411626
• ISBN-13: 978-0385411622
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,635,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Overview of the Sixties Ever Written??, October 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Steal This Dream: Abbie Hoffman & the Countercultural REvolustion in America (Hardcover)

Larry 'Ratso' Sloman has created a masterpiece with his oral biography of Abbie Hoffman. Not just the story of a fascinating, complex, American clown and activist, Steal This Dream is perhaps the first major book to put the sixties and seventies in perspective. Sloman knew Abbie and many of the other players intimately, and they open up to him with a forthrightness and honesty only possible now that the events are decades in the past. Hardly a homage to Hoffman, this excellent and highly readable book will make Hoffman worshippers cringe and Hoffman haters respectful. Larry Sloman deserves a Pulitzer.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An American Anti-Hero, November 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Steal This Dream: Abbie Hoffman & the Countercultural REvolustion in America (Hardcover)

I came to this book with only a cursory knowledge of Abbie Hoffman and his generation of the Yippies. I found this book very interesting and entertaining exposing Abbie for all his faults and successes as a peace/environmental activitist. The only problem I have is that the oral history format leaves holes in the story and makes some of the comments hard to put in context. More context from the author between the passages would have made it more enjoyable reading. Overall, this was a very interesting book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad, December 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Steal This Dream: Abbie Hoffman & the Countercultural REvolustion in America (Hardcover)

This book is a pretty good overview Abbie Hoffman. It uses differing quotes to outline who and what he was about. For the real deal, however, readers should turns to Hoffman's own autobiography "Soon to be a Major Motion Picture".