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jbstaniforth's review against another edition
2.0
An immensely faulty book--arrogant, hectoring, repetitive, self amused, not to mention fantastically sexist and homophobic with touches of serious racism--that still remains nonetheless somehow inspiring. Like so many memoirists of the 60s, Grogan is absolutely convinced he is right-- so much so that much of the book is given over to speeches he forces various leftist/radical groups to listen to about how they should do what they're doing. All of these speeches involve him showing up to a meeting unannounced (having decided in advance that everyone involved is a lackey or a bourgeois or on a poverty vacation), standing up and orating for what seems like hours about how worthless and stupid they are and how they should actually be doing things, then immediately leaving without listening to what anyone else has to say. So many people in the book are portrayed as villains (and Grogan so heroic and always in the right) that you eventually get that suspicious feeling from Grogan that you get from people who tell you about the hundreds of purely evil roommates they've had, who've all fucked them eight ways from Sunday, while they were just being decent individuals, minding their own business. This is not only suspicious and unbelievable but seriously boring, superficial, and uninspired. Coupled with an attitude toward women that only lets them graduate *sometimes* from being attractive fucktoys, abject contempt for queer people, and frequently inexcusable remarks about black people, the book is pretty fucking hard to swallow.
Yet at its core, there's this truly valuable point made over and over again-- which was, in part, what the Diggers sought to communicate-- that politics is all just words, and what matters is putting food in people's bellies, making sure their heat is on in the winter, and finding roofs under which people can sleep. The Diggers worked hard to provide free food for a lot of people, and that can't be denied. The directness and utility of their purpose should remain an example of everyone who wants to help out other people. It's just a shame that an idea as selfless and pure as that would be ultimately remembered in a book as selfish and tiresome as this.
Yet at its core, there's this truly valuable point made over and over again-- which was, in part, what the Diggers sought to communicate-- that politics is all just words, and what matters is putting food in people's bellies, making sure their heat is on in the winter, and finding roofs under which people can sleep. The Diggers worked hard to provide free food for a lot of people, and that can't be denied. The directness and utility of their purpose should remain an example of everyone who wants to help out other people. It's just a shame that an idea as selfless and pure as that would be ultimately remembered in a book as selfish and tiresome as this.
zachwerb's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting hyperbolic memoir created by someone with a (probably) over inflated ego. Is it earned? whos to say. The second half of this book becomes preachy or repetitive is a better word. But I always appreciate a head strong, scumbag narrator who "keeps it real". Emmett Grogan is flawed but fascinating, emerging from the move of Kenny Wisdom to the west coast, I enjoyed his new york/Europe stories probably more than the digger stuff.
uri_a's review against another edition
Una gran historia estropeada por un protagonista harto chulo y repelente. Está escrito hablando de él mismo en tercera persona y en la primera parte se hace llamar "Kenny Wisdom". En fin, tenía muchísimas ganas de leerlo y no lo pude acabar...
hayesstw's review against another edition
4.0
A semi-autobiographical novel set in the hippie era in the USA.