Our Sixties

Reviews / Votes

A gripping portrayal of a dramatic era from the unique perspective of a keen observer, astute analyst, and direct participant in all its complex stages. In the author's words, 'a book about the transformation of minds, my own and many others,' and of the country, with rich lessons for those taking up the struggle today. -- Noam Chomsky Paul Lauter 'stumbled' into the sixties, but he emerged (re)formed--by feminism, civil rights, the antiwar movement, black studies, personal catastrophe - and, not least, by his love of literature, especially poetry. Sixty years later, in another age of 'illegitimate authority,' his insights about resistance are invaluable, enlightening, and ever more necessary. -- Mary Helen Washington, author of <i>The Other Blacklist: The African American Literary and Cultural Left of the 1950s</i> A veteran of some of the most remarkable progressive movements of the past sixty years, the distinguished scholar and teacher Paul Lauter examines his life and times with frankness, down-to-earth humor, and hard-won insight. -- Richard Yarborough, professor of English and African American studies, University of California, Los Angeles Since the 1960s, Paul Lauter has been one of our most significant and effective educators. In this memoir of the sixties he provides eyewitness recollections of many of the dramas of protest as well as much-needed reflection on the visions, experiments, and legacies of that time. -- Richard Flacks, coauthor, <i>Making History, Making Blintzes: How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America</i> Lauter's clear-eyed account of the activist movements of the sixties - their successes and failures as well as the enriching consequences of activism on his own life - is an indispensable narrative for anyone committed to countering the many threats to democracy in America today. -- Sandra Zagarell, Longman Professor of English Emerita, Oberlin College Beautifully written, it offers solid information and sound, sharp commentary on the events that marked the revolutionary era of the 1960s in the United States (US). The author's deep knowledge of American culture together with a bright sense of humor and a shrewd, witty tone, makes it a pleasure to read. Indeed, Our Sixties should be required reading for those who want to understand the civil rights movements in the US in the 1960s and the connected struggles against inequality, discrimination, segregation, oppression, racism, poverty, sexism - and war. -- Maria Irene Ramalho * Revista Critica de Ciencias Sociais * Paul Lauter's new book - a task of twenty years! - presents itself as "a memoir," "the result of the author's recollection [...] a subjective account of events that occurred in his life." The reader is indeed exposed to an honest and self-critical reappraisal of a long and rich life story of an intellectual profoundly committed to political causes. But, at the same time, the reader is given access to a personal lens into "the sixties" as a founding moment in the history of the United States of America. * European Journal of American Studies * Lauter provides useful background and intimate details about many events and organizations. Movement veterans with an interest in the educational wars of the sixties and seventies will find Lauter's book especially interesting. He has much to teach younger activists concerning movement dynamics. -- Martin Oppenheimer * Against the Current Magazine * The first question one asks when considering a memoir is: Why would I want to know about this person? In Paul Lauter's case, there are many reasons, especially for anyone interested in how life experience draws a person into political activity, and how that activity leads them to groundbreaking progressive political action. Lauter has lived through decades of unstable academic employment interlaced with jobs as an organizer in various movements. This can serve as a model for many young activists these days, for whom this book will be a valuable resource. * JOURNAL OR WORKING CLASS STUDIES *