Midterm Report: The Class of '65: Chronicles of an American Generation

Presenting interviews with twenty-seven men and women of varying backgrounds, this books offers a portrait of the sixties generation as it comes to terms with its maturity

In a sequel to his 1975 bestseller, What Really Happened to the Class of 1965, Wallechinsky follows the baby boomers generation into the last decade to see how it has fared and what impact it has had on national life. On the whole, the 28 men and women of widely varying backgrounds and occupationsincluding President Carter's son Jackwho contributed to this oral history have led productive lives despite being a generation that grew up with the threat of nuclear war, TV, Vietnam, sexual revolution, drugs, rock-and-roll, and radical politics which affected some individuals greatly and others only minimally or not at all. Thus, although many Vietnam veterans are bitter, for one interviewee, three tours of service there led to a rewarding military career. The author finds that many of his subjects question established authorityboth temporal and religiousand are not afraid to ask hard questions. The class of 1965, he concludes, rates well as defenders of peace and freedom, lovers of education, environment and technology. Photos. 75,000 first printing; BOMC and QPBC alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Those who enjoyed What Really Happened to the Class of ' 65 , Wallechinsky's best seller (written with Michael Medved, 1976), will also like this "sequel"; but one needn't have read the earlier book, for Wallechinsky has chosen a whole new set of members of many different "Classes of '65" ("The Prom Queen," "The Activist," "The Average Guy," etc.) and interviewed them, now over 20 years since high school graduation. This oral history approach is an effective way to characterize an era (in this case what is thought of as the Sixties), and each of these some 25 people has an interesting story. Most moving are Deborah Samuelson's heart-wrenching story of her daughter's birth defects and the letters home from Manuel Lauterio, who is still listed as missing in action in Vietnam. A fascinating and disturbing book. Rosellen Brewer, Monterey Cty. Lib., Seaside, Cal.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.