#334 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday April 25)
Good morning,
This is the fourth in a series on the best and most evocative books, decade by decade, beginning with the 1940s. This list is of the Seventies, the decade of high school, college and entering the working world for many of us. The soundtrack of the seventies remains among the most played on Pandora. The Vietnam War ended, environmentalism became a “thing.” Watergate created “must-see-TV,” eventually leading to the Nixon resignation, and testing our democracy’s resilience. The decade ended with hyper-inflation and the Iranian revolution. The world was changed forever.
BOOKS OF THE SEVENTIES
One Hundred Years of Solitude (the brilliant Gabriel Garcia Marquez (New York Times Book Review: “One Hundred Years of Solitude is the first piece of literature since the Book of Genesis that should be required reading for the entire human race. . . “
The Joy of Sex, by the oddly appropriately named Alex Comfort. When we started talking about that which was never discussed and how to make the best of it.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, by Hunter S. Thompson (whole levels of enlightenment—gonzo journalism, 60s drug culture, a 70s book about the limits and failures of the 60s cultural revolution)
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig. I loved it—great literature capturing the zeitgeist and explaining (in biased layman terms) philosophical concepts
All the President’s Men, by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. The story of the seminal political event and crime of the 70s. A paean to the quality of great journalism and how it can explain and alter the world.
Helter Skelter, by Vincent Bugliosi. The senseless violence by the Manson clan, creating a genre of a new phenomenon of senseless killing. Although one could argue that the genre began with In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote.
Roots, by Alex Haley. A Pulitzer Prize winner covering the panoply of Black American history. A genealogical history, retrospective and imagining of generations of Haley’s family, beginning with Kunta Kinte’s kidnapping from Africa to slavery in America, through Jim Crow and today. The birth of the modern miniseries. Roots was one of the first “much watch” TV events. It introduced us to young LeVar Burton, USC alumnus, who later played Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation and, most endearingly and meaningfully, was the man who read to our children in the great television PBS program, “Reading Rainbow.”
The World According to Garp, by John Irving. One of the many books with bears, Vienna, wrestlers, and Irving’s unique perspectives on America. I still think A Prayer for Owen Meany, Hotel New Hampshire and the mighty The Cider House Rules may exceed Garp.
Sophie’s Choice, by William Styron. This National Book Award winner is ostensibly the story of two survivors of World War II, a dark secret is uncovered. A Hobson’s choice to be sure. Really remarkable, as is the Meryl Streep movie. The book, resonating to 1940s Europe, also speaks to the question of impossible choices among bad options that we still deal with today.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. Arguably the funniest science fiction ever. The meaning of life, the insignificance of man in the enormity of the galaxy, the answer to the question “what is the meaning of life?” (the answer is “42”), and the precursor to the perhaps even better Restaurant at the Edge of the Universe and Life, the Universe and Everything.
Our Bodies Ourselves, by the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective. I haven’t read this but a female friend assures me that this was a seminal feminist book on women’s health. Included are issues of sexual orientation, birth control, violence and abuse, menopause, abortion, and other subjects previously not discussed much in public. It sounds like an important book that helped create the more open times in which we live.
Ragtime, by E.L. Doctorow. Some could dispute this choice. But I feel the entire genre of fictional stories based on factual history was pioneered by Doctorow. Other great ones include World’s Fair, Homer & Langley, The March, and The Waterworks.
Anything by Philip K. Dick the godfather of much of the science fiction made into movies in the last 20 years…like Total Recall, Blade Runner, The Man in the High Castle, and The Adjustment Bureau.
Song of Solomon, by Tony Morrison. National Book Critics Circle Award winner and Nobel Prize winning author.
The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe. One of the seminal authors of the late 20th century, with classics in each decade, Wolfe covered the 60s drug generation, the real estate industry of Atlanta (A Man in Full), and the “masters of the universe” on Wall Street (Bonfire of the Vanities). But this may have been his best—the story of the beginnings of the space program, told through the stories of Chuck Yeager and the test pilots through the Mercury Seven. The movie was a great adaptation of a great book.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives: