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Book Review
The Sixties were a time when the nerve endings of the body politic were constantly stimulated with new sensations, but it was also a time of mindless fantasy groundless arrogance, spiritual awareness, callow youth, and misguided elders." Brokaw calls his book a virtual reunion, and focuses on the pivotal year of 1968. He met many of the major players in that year because of his journalism work. He has interviewed many of them again now. Many, of course, have died, but he gives summaries of their experiences, too. Photos help us to remember (if, indeed, we were around then) and current photos show us what heroes and lesser folk look like now. Brokaw also tells what he was doing during those years and records his ascent in his chosen field without being egotistical. He profilesover 80 of those who figured in the news, some of whom still do. His account begins with the death of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and goes on to discuss the civil rights struggle and the effects of the Vietnam War. We have heard all of this before, but telling about it through the eyes of so many who were importantly there enlivens and enhances the story. "God bless Dr. King's soul. He was there to raise our hopes and to give us courage. He really made us feel it was right to die for what you believed in if the cause was good enough." (Reverend Tom Gilmore.) "They'd tell me, 'Don't get in the way.' Well, in the Sixties, I got in the way. . . . It's time for people to get in the way again." (Representative John Lewis.) "You never really leave the battlefield. I was older at 24 than I am today." (Senator James Webb.) Chapter headings include "A Woman's Place," "A Dream Fulfilledand a Dream Deferred," and "Like a Rolling Stone." We meet Nora Ephron, Gloria Steinem, Arlo Guthrie, Karl Rove, Warren Beatty, and a number of people that I had never heard of but was glad to meet. In concluding, Brokaw asks when we knew that the Sixties were over. "The war in Iraq, whatever you think of its origins, execution, and lasting effects, has exposed a great schism in American life and in the construct of our national security requirements." He sees that health and fitness are benefits of the emphasis on youth, but that ironically, obesity became the odd counterpoint. The environment, the steady gains for African Americans, increased opportunities for women, the freedom "to step out of the closet" -- Brokaw sees all these as benefits from the Sixties. However, he also sees that work on race and poverty, women's issues, and the changing climate are more difficultnow than they were 40 years ago.
With an extensive index, Boom! is a useful as well as entertaining book. It is available at the Mary Willis Library.
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