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(More customer reviews)What a trip! I read Boomer Days in two sittings and was sorry to see it end. Gus Russo, one of my favorite crime reporters, has written another of his entertaining 20th century narratives - this time as a memoir. As a fellow Boomer, I was instantly transported to the era of my youth, as Russo made me think of things I hadn't thought of in years. The golden ages of music, tennis, political upheaval, hippies, conspiracy theories - they all come alive and practically jump off the pages. He all but dares you to prove there was a better time to grow up in the US, and is not shy about his opinions on today's digitized world -- thought provoking stuff. I can't recommend it highly enough.
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Whether you're a nostalgic member of the post-WWII generation or a digital native wondering what all the 'Sixties" talk is about, you will find something to put a smile on your face as Gus Russo takes you on a personal cinematic ride through the turbulent 1960s, 1970s, and beyond. Emerging from the funky blue-collar Baltimore that gave rise to Edgar Allan Poe, H.L. Mencken, Frank Zappa, and John Waters, Russo nurtured an endless curiosity and joie de vivre by inserting himself ala 'Zelig" (or is it 'Forrest Gump"?) into the worlds of a stunning array of American icons- from music, to tennis, to politics, to filmmaking. However, he didn't do so as a 'fan," but as a modern-day Siddhartha, trying to work with, and most importantly learn from the best. He made music with them, played tennis with them, and got pepper-sprayed at rallies with them. Through his eyes we view the civil rights movement, the JFK assassination, the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, the golden ages of tennis and music, and the rise of the counterculture. Like the late raconteur Jean Shepherd, Russo universalizes his growing-up experience as he follows his bliss during one of the most exciting times to be young in America. Boomer Days will make older readers misty-eyed and younger ones infinitely more informed about this transformational period in American history.
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