a city reader

Doesn’t It Seem Like A Title For Today?

But it was 40 years ago that The Greening of America was all the talk

I was telling a friend a couple weeks ago that there are some books that gave words to what I was feeling at different times in my life. The Greening of America was certainly one of those. And not just for me; it spoke to the whole generation in 1970. I even saw my conservative father reading the excerpts from it in the evening paper.

I tried to get a copy last week. Out of print. Ouch. I was shocked. It was like Slaughterhouse-Five. I found a good used copy online. Even the quality paperbacks were pocket-size then. You actually carried them in your hip pocket. Vonnegut, Heller, Pirsig. To hold it now is to recall that time. I haven’t read it again. I’ve dipped into it. It’s a little intense. There was a war going on.

caption: EVOKING AN ERA. Looking at the cover art now, it’s as iconic as a T shirt.