Literary theme analysis, by a book like {foo}
Books about Counterculture
Hollywood
by Charles Bukowski
A gritty and wild novel of the film industry and its desperate players.
Adopting the stylized alter-ego, Henry 'Hank' Chinaski , a character used in previous novels, this book relates his experiences of working with a director, finding financial backing, losing financial ... (Wikipedia)
Howl and Other Poems
by Allen Ginsberg
A collection of poems exploring themes of individualism and modern culture.
The Dharma Bums
by Jack Kerouac
A journey of self-discovery, fueled by a passion for Buddhism and nature.
The character Japhy drives Ray Smith's story, whose penchant for simplicity and Zen Buddhism influenced Kerouac on the eve of the sudden and unpredicted success of, On the Road, . The action shifts ... (Wikipedia)
On the Road
by Jack Kerouac
A young man's journey across America, seeking adventure and freedom.
The two main characters of the book are the narrator, Sal Paradise, and his friend Dean Moriarty, much admired for his carefree attitude and sense of adventure, a free-spirited maverick eager to ... (Wikipedia)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
by Hunter S. Thompson
A wild and hallucinatory journey through the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas.
The basic synopsis revolves around journalist Raoul Duke ( Hunter S. Thompson ) and his attorney, Dr. Gonzo ( Oscar Zeta Acosta ), as they arrive in Las Vegas in 1971 to report on the Mint 400 ... (Wikipedia)
The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
by Neil Strauss
The wild and debaucherous story of Mötley Crüe, from their rise to fame to their darkest moments.
Whiskey and porn stars, hot reds and car crashes, black leather and high heels, overdoses and death. This is the life of Mötley Crüe, the heaviest drinking, hardest fighting, most oversexed and ... (Goodreads)
Hell's Angels
by Hunter S. Thompson
A journalist's daring exploration of the wild and dangerous world of the Hell's Angels motorcycle gang.
Au début des années soixante, Thompson, alors journaliste à San Francisco, est fasciné par les Hell's Angels. Son article sur ces seigneurs de la route fait sensation, il se lance dans la version ... (Goodreads)
And the Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks
by William S. Burroughs
A murder mystery based on real-life events, told from alternating perspectives of two young writers.
On August 14, 1944, Lucien Carr, a friend of William S. Burroughs from St. Louis, stabbed a man named David Kammerer with a Boy Scout knife and threw his body in the Hudson River. For eight years, ... (Goodreads)
Inherent Vice
by Thomas Pynchon
A comedic crime story set in a strange, surreal world of 1970s California.
The setting is Los Angeles in 1970; the arrest and trial of the Manson Family is featured throughout the novel as a current event. Larry "Doc" Sportello, private investigator and pothead, receives a ... (Wikipedia)
Just Kids
by Patti Smith
Chronicles of two young artists in New York City, finding friendship and inspiration in each other.
In Just Kids , Patti Smith's first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal ... (Goodreads)
Junky
by William S. Burroughs
A gritty, autobiographical account of a man's descent into the underworld of addiction.
Before his 1959 breakthrough, Naked Lunch , an unknown William S. Burroughs wrote Junky , his first novel. It is a candid eye-witness account of times and places that are now long gone, an ... (Goodreads)
Fear and Loathing: The Strange and Terrible Saga of Hunter S. Thompson
by Paul Perry
A biography of the infamous journalist Hunter S. Thompson, detailing his wild and drug-fueled adventures in the 60s and 70s.
Fear and Loathing creates a sharp and savvy profile of one of the most provocative voices and distinctive personalities of our time. To Hunter S. Thompson, being a Gonzo journalist means doing ... (Goodreads)
Gonzo: The Life of Hunter S. Thompson
by Jann S. Wenner
A biography of the legendary journalist Hunter S. Thompson, exploring his wild and unconventional life and career.
Few American lives are stranger, more action-packed, or wilder than that of Hunter S. Thompson. Born a rebel in Louisville, Kentucky, Thompson spent a lifetime channeling his energy and insight into ... (Goodreads)
Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix
by Charles R. Cross
A detailed account of the life and career of legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix, from his early years to his untimely death.
It has been more than thirty-five years since Jimi Hendrix died, but his music and spirit are still very much alive for his fans everywhere. Charles R. Cross vividly recounts the life of Hendrix, ... (Goodreads)
Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
by Jon Lee Anderson
Biographical account of Che Guevara's life, from his childhood to death.
"Acclaimed around the world and a national best-seller, this is the definitive work on Che Guevara, the dashing rebel whose epic dream was to end poverty and injustice in Latin America and the ... (Goodreads)
Hammer of the Gods
by Stephen Davis
A biography of Led Zeppelin, exploring their rise to fame and the wild excesses of their rockstar lifestyle.
They were legends based on myths myths of fantasy, power, and black magic. The tales of their tours were the most outrageous in the already excess-laden annals of modern music. The era of Led ... (Goodreads)
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
by Legs McNeil
An exploration of the punk rock movement through interviews with its pioneers and participants.
A, Time Out, and, Daily News, Top Ten Book of the Year upon its initial release,, Please Kill Me, is the first oral history of the most nihilist of all pop movements. Iggy Pop, Danny Fields, Dee Dee ... (Goodreads)
The Rum Diary
by Hunter S. Thompson
A man's journey to find himself and meaningful work, set in a tropical paradise.
Begun in 1959 by a twenty-two-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary is a tangled love story of jealousy, treachery, and violent alcoholic lust in the Caribbean boomtown that was San Juan, Puerto ... (Goodreads)
Drop City
by T. Coraghessan Boyle
An isolated commune in California's wilds, and its inhabitants' trials and tribulations.
It is 1970, and a down-at-the-heels California commune devoted to peace, free love, and the simple life has decided to relocate to the last frontier—the unforgiving landscape of interior Alaska—in ... (Goodreads)
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls
by Peter Biskind
A behind-the-scenes look at the rise of 1970s Hollywood and the maverick filmmakers who revolutionized the industry.
This down-and-dirty romp through Hollywood in the 1970s introduces the young filmmakers–Coppola, Scorsese, Lucas, Spielberg, Altman, and Beatty--and recreates an era that transformed American culture ... (Goodreads)
Queer
by William S. Burroughs
A semi-autobiographical novel exploring the underground gay culture of 1950s America, with a focus on drug use and criminality.
Originally written in 1952 but not published till 1985, Queer is an enigma - both an unflinching autobiographical self-portrait and a coruscatingly political novel, Burroughs' only realist love story ... (Goodreads)
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
by Tom Wolfe
A journey through the psychedelic 1960s and the lives of an eclectic group of people.
Tom Wolfe chronicles the adventures of Ken Kesey and his group of followers. Throughout the work, Kesey is portrayed as desiring the creation of a new religion. Kesey forms a group of followers based ... (Wikipedia)
No One Here Gets Out Alive
by Danny Sugerman
Biography of Jim Morrison, exploring the life and legacy of the legendary singer-songwriter.
Here is Jim Morrison in all his complexity - singer, philosopher, poet, delinquent-the brilliant, charismatic, and obsessed seeker who rejected authority in any form, the explorer who probed "the ... (Goodreads)
The White Album
by Joan Didion
Collection of essays exploring 1960s counterculture in America.
First published in 1979, Joan Didion's The White Album records indelibly the upheavals and aftermaths of the 1960s. Examining key events, figures, and trends of the era—including Charles Manson, the ... (Goodreads)
I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie
by Pamela Des Barres
Memoir of a rock groupie in the 1960s and 70s, detailing her experiences with famous musicians and the wild lifestyle of the era.
The stylish, exuberant, and remarkably sweet confession of one of the most famous groupies of the 1960s and 70s is back in print in this new edition that includes an afterword on the author's last 15 ... (Goodreads)
The Portable Beat Reader
by Ann Charters
A collection of works by Beat Generation writers, including Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs, exploring themes of rebellion and nonconformity.
Through poetry, fiction, essays, song lyrics, letters, and memoir this authoritative single-volume collection of Beat literature captures the triumphant energy of a movement that swept through ... (Goodreads)
The Subterraneans
by Jack Kerouac
A young man's search for love and acceptance in a world of cultural and racial tensions.
Jack Kerouac, one of the great voices of the Beat generation and author of the classic On the Road , here continues his peregrinations in postwar, underground San Francisco. "The subterraneans" come ... (Goodreads)
Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana
by Michael Azerrad
A comprehensive biography of the iconic grunge band Nirvana, exploring their rise to fame and the tragic end of Kurt Cobain.
Nirvana came out of nowhere in 1991 to sell nearly nine million copies of the landmark album Nevermind , whose thunderous sound and indelible melodies embodied the confusion, frustration and passion ... (Goodreads)
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