The Book of the Week is “Confessions of A Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in Counter-Culture” by Paul Krassner, published in 1994. Paul Krassner was a radical in the 1960’s, in Abbie Hoffman’s crowd. He wrote that when radicals are bored, they start a magazine. Hence, at the end of the 1950’s, he founded the publication “The Realist,” consisting of “social-political-religious criticism and satire.”
True to the title of his book, he was also quite the irreverent smartass. On one occasion, when his significant other hid a marijuana cigarette in a bodily orifice of hers so as not to be charged with possession in a police raid, he could not resist remarking, “What’s a nice joint like that doing in a girl like you?”
Krassner confesses that his divorce was due to his unfaithfulness. He describes an episode of “quality time” with his 15-year old daughter in South America, where they participated in a drug trip they perceived to be mind-enhancing, in a controlled environment with a group.
Krassner discusses his and other counter-culture members’ anti-war activities, including burning (illegal) photocopies of his draft card at numerous protests on college campuses across the nation.
This book provides an entertaining, informative introduction to the societal outliers of the 1960’s.
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