Customer Reviews

Too Good To Be Forgotten: Changing America in the '60s and '70s

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Chinese curse, "may you live in interesting times," couldn't apply more aptly than in Obst's tale of his life experiences during the formative stages of the boomer generation. His stories, told with a refreshing sense of humor, provide new insights about an entire generation. As a boomer myself, the attitudes he describes -- fearing atom bomb attacks, opposing the Viet Nam War and the adult generation that brought it to us, openness about sex and drugs -- bring feelings of nostalgia and, as O'Rourke suggests, embarrassment at the same time. This is a quick and enjoyable read about someone who began as a quite ordinary guy from Culver City, and ended up at the center of the My Lai Massacre story with Seymour Hersh, the Chicago 68 Yippies riot with Jerry Rubin and Abbe Hoffman, the Pentagon Papers with Daniel Ellsberg, and Watergate with Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Robert Redford, and even John and Mo Dean. He's Forrest Gump, all right, but with a reflective 60's kind of attitude.

I was born too late to experience the sixties and seventies firsthand. But Obst's book seems, well, *real* -- it's a firsthand account unblemished by the cynicism and disillusionment that I sense in other chronicles of that era. He also has this subtle humor that makes the book a pleasure to read...a vestige of '60s insouciance, perhaps. In any case, Obst was uncannily *there* -- an active participant in the counterculture. He was at the Chicago riots, the People's Park protests at Berkeley, a Black Panther rally. He was integral in breaking the My Lai massacre story and the Pentagon Papers. And he has some extremely interesting insider speculation on the identity of Deep Throat. If only they assigned "Too Good To Be Forgotten" in high school history class -- the stories about Yippies, Watergate, My Lai, Ellsberg -- I surely would have remembered learning about this then.

Obst was in all the right places and knew all of the key players from the 60's and 70's. He explains how strange it was to grow up in the 50's practicing the 'duck and cover' drills at school, and fearing death at any moment. As a early baby boomer myself, many memories were brought back about those times. I want my in-laws to read his book to understand why people my age are so different from other earlier and later groups.

Obst's book is charming and revealing of not only himself but his -- our -- times. Although the media have focused on his "DEEP THROAT" revelations (and beat up on him unfairly, I think), the real story is how this "Forest Gump/Zelig" guy moved through all our lives and what he saw. The love story(ies) are touching, and the portraits of people like Ellsberg and Sy Hersh are important historically.

The author wonderfully describes his experiences during the tumultous years of 60s-70s and skillfully weaves his observations about all the events. The book is a very easy and quick read. But the best part is the information it packs about all the events of those times (Vietnam and My Lai, Chicago convention, Watergate..), the government's reaction and the effect on student psyche. What will leave the reader amazed at the end of the book is, how a person could have been at so many places at the "right" time! A truly wonderful work!

This book was written by a man who has done and seen things that most of us only witness in the movies. It is exciting as well as touching and informative and a must read by those of us under 30 who want to enjoy ourselves while learning about one of the most exciting times in our country's history. This book should be recommended reading for every college student. I loved it!!!!!!

Obst is a real character and lived a very interesting life. One part of it was publishing the Pentagon Papers, which is a very informative part of the book.

The author wonderfully describes his experiences during the tumultous years of 60s-70s and skillfully weaves his observations about all the events. The book is a very easy and quick read. But the best part is the information it packs about all the events of those times (Vietnam and My Lai, Chicago convention, Watergate..), the government's reaction and the effect on student psyche. What will leave the reader amazed at the end of the book is, how a person could have been at so many places at the "right" time! A truly wonderful work!

A previous reviewer complained that Obst typifies the hubris of his generation. Did he even read the book? Nope. The book is genuinely funny, revealing, and a good look into heydays of the Baby Boomer years. The previous reviewer claimed that Obst said the Baby Boomers accomplished everything possible. I know that my generation is stuck being compared to the accomplishments and excitement of the Baby Boomers, and that's what Obst was talking about on Today. He's right that America is pretty lame right now: just compare his tales of Watergate and the Pentagon Papers to the upcoming Clinton impeachment hearings and Monica's blue dress. The book's a great read; a lot more light and fun than the pompous cover art would indicate.

David Obst, for better or worse, had a front-row seat for many of the defining events of the 1960s and 1970s including breaking the story of the My Lai massacre, the Yippies riot, Vietnam, and Watergate. His often witty recollections of the people, places, and events that transpired is alternately funny (he hangs up on President Nixon's daughter after she identifies herself) and melancholy (he loses his first love, a Vietnamese girl, to her oppressive family). Those who were alive during these times may have a different perspective on these events, but for someone like me (born at the end of 1969), it's a must-read if only to get details on things our high school history books glossed over.