1959

"I mean, man, whither goest thou?" —-Jack Kerouac

"In the widening civil-rights movement, Motown would serve not only as a showcase for black pride and independence but also as a lubricant for social integration. It was hard to be a racist while slow-dancing to Smoky Robinson."

"Art is an affirmation of life -- not an attempt to bring order out of chaos nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we're living." --John Cage

Speaking of literature & censorship: "There was an appetite for forbidden fruit, wherever it was growing -- and an audience for anyone who spat its seeds in the faces of authority."

I bought this book because of its cover. Yes, I see the irony in that statement. Mostly I read because I know a bit about a subject, but I want to know more or I find an author I like and then read his body of work (same thing with music). This book was different in that I knew embarrassingly little about the '50s & '60s so I decided to try it & I'm glad I did. Mr Kaplan is a great writer and he taught me about the Space race, the missile gap, beatniks, the integrated circuit, jazz, Kerouac, Mailer, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, modern art, Castro, civil rights, free speech and more.