By Richard Knight
Shindig!
February 2020
Hipsters, flipsters and finger popping’ daddies – the man gets righteously stuck!
The tribes of those revolutionary times are here assembled; soul brothers, militants, feminists, queers and street-level hunters. SITTM is an authoritative guide to the pulp and popular fiction of “the long ‘60s”. that period of rapid social and cultural change in whose shadow we still live.
The lurid book covers alone make this a must-have collection: over 350 beautifully printed color plates that yell out kiss-my-ass attitude and wild abandon. Plus detailed author interviews, illustrated biographies, articles, and reviews from more than 30 popular culture critics and scholars. It’s highly readable and totally compelling.
Acknowledging that for many, the ‘60s didn’t really unfold until the mid-70s, the authors and contributors highlight how the heyday of the paperback novel was also a key indicator of the radicalism and social shifts of the era. Every new trend could be tackled by hacks happy to carve some new life into tired genres. Crime, thrillers, erotica were written quickly, with an eye to the market, delivering cheap thrills, action and titlitation. Many of the books are re-evaluated and deserve revisiting- I’m already making a list.t Some standouts: an appreciation of the Shaft series by Steve Aldous, an overview of “Pulp Feminism” by Bill Osgerby, militants, gaiters and protesters from The Angry Brigade to The Yippies, stone cold sweet players and Death Wish-style vigilantes plus Ed Sanders’ The Family, chronicling one of the moments that heralded the end of the era.
