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Emmett’s Year In Books

Emmett’s 2024 Year in Books

Take a look at Emmett’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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1,997 books | 3,844 friends

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2025 Reading Challenge

2025

READING

CHALLENGE

Emmett Grogan has read 38 books of their goal of 26!

146%

Emmett Grogan

Goodreads Author

Born

in Brooklyn, New York, The United States

Died

April 06, 1978

Website

https://www.emmettgrogan.com/about

Genre

Biographies & Memoirs, Contemporary, Classics

Member Since

September 2019

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Eugene Leo "Emmett" Grogan was a founder of the Diggers in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, California. The Diggers took their name from the English Diggers (1649-1650), a radical movement opposed to feudalism, the Church of England and the British Crown.

The San Francisco Diggers were a legendary group that evolved out of two radical traditions that thrived in the Bay Area in the mid-1960s: the bohemian/underground art/theater scene, and the New Left/civil rights/peace movement.

The Diggers combined street theater, direct action, and art happenings in their social agenda of creating a Free City. Their most famous activities revolved around distributing free food ("Free because it's yours!") every day in the park, and distributin Eugene Leo "Emmett" Grogan was a founder of the Diggers in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, California. The Diggers took their name from the English Diggers (1649-1650), a radical movement opposed to feudalism, the Church of England and the British Crown.

The San Francisco Diggers were a legendary group that evolved out of two radical traditions that thrived in the Bay Area in the mid-1960s: the bohemian/underground art/theater scene, and the New Left/civil rights/peace movement.

The Diggers combined street theater, direct action, and art happenings in their social agenda of creating a Free City. Their most famous activities revolved around distributing free food ("Free because it's yours!") every day in the park, and distributing "surplus energy" at a series of Free Stores (where everything was free for the taking.)

The Diggers coined various slogans that worked their way into the counterculture and even into the larger society — "Do your own thing" and "Today is the first day of the rest of your life" being the most recognizable.

The Diggers inspired Abbie Hoffman to undertake a similar venture on the Lower East Side of New York City during the mid-1960s (although Grogan ultimately saw Abbie Hoffman as a lifestyle poseur, as described in Emmett's memoir of the late 1960s).

Grogan's penchant for personal myth-making and distrust of the mainstream media resulted in few details of his life being reliably recorded. His 1972 autobiography, RINGOLEVIO (A LIFE PLAYED FOR KEEPS), is filled with embellishments and large portions of his pre-Digger life appear to be outright fabrications.

This flexibility with the truth was part of Grogan's larger social and political agenda, and was meant to further Digger ideals, to whit, the use of his name (alternately, "Emma Grogan") as a community pseudonym, in pursuit of social justice activities as a member of the Diggers: "Emmett Grogan" is code for anti-establishment; the outlaw ethos in literary and other artistic endeavors.

Emmett Grogan sang back-up with Ramblin' Jack Elliott on "Mr. Tambourine Man" written by Bob Dylan. Dylan dedicated his 1978 album Street Legal to Grogan. After the success of RINGOLEVIO, Grogan was also the author of FINAL SCORE, a (not very good) crime thriller.

On April 6, 1978, 35-year-old Emmett Grogan was found dead on an F Train subway car in New York City, the victim of a heart attack possibly induced by chronic heroin use. This has been disputed and alternative theories exist.

On April 6, 2018, an announcement was made regarding the forthcoming publication of a new novel, TWELVE STORIES. Released October 23, 2018, the privately-published work has gone on to sell over 3000 copies in Canada.

October 17, 2025 will see the publication of a companion volume to TWELVE STORIES, the novel DIFFERENT TIMES, for fans of Truman Capote, Raymond Carver, Charles Bukowski, Mordecai Richler, Hunter Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut, and other legendary literary authors, the type of which who are no longer being supported by contemporary publishing.

A celebration of Emmett Grogan’s 80th birthday, alongside the 80th birthday of Jimi Hendrix, was observed on November 28, 2022. ...more

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Emmett Grogan’s books

Average rating: 4.03 · 1,040 ratings · 147 reviews · 6 distinct works • Similar authors

	Ringolevio: A Life Played for Keeps (New York Review Books Classics) by Emmett Grogan (Goodreads Author), Peter Coyote (Introduction) 4.14 avg rating — 523 ratings — published 1972 — 34 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Portable Sixties Reader by Ann Charters (Editor), Edward Abbey (Contributor), Sherman Alexie (Contributor) 3.94 avg rating — 349 ratings — published 2003 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Twelve Stories 3.96 avg rating — 140 ratings — published 2018 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Final Score 3.46 avg rating — 28 ratings — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Digger Papers 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Different Times 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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The Sequel: A Novel (The Book Series, 2)

by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Dec 16, 2025 04:45PM

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Emmett Grogan rated a book really liked it Playing Basra by Edward Brown	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is the type of book, after I finished the last story, I wanted to spend more time with the characters. So I started reading it again, and was immediately reminded of the comment, the only fiction worth reading, is the fiction worth RE-reading ie. ...more
Dec 17, 2025 08:15AM · like · see review
Emmett Grogan is on page 147 of 304 of The Sequel The Sequel: A Novel (The Book Series, 2) by Jean Hanff Korelitz (Goodreads Author) progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 16, 2025 04:45PM · 1 like · like · see status · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan rated a book really liked it Playing Basra by Edward Brown	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is the type of book, after I finished the last story, I wanted to spend more time with the characters. So I started reading it again, and was immediately reminded of the comment, the only fiction worth reading, is the fiction worth RE-reading ie. ...more
Dec 16, 2025 02:36PM · like · see review
Emmett Grogan rated a book really liked it The Oedipus Cycle: Oedipus Rex / Oedipus at Colonus / Antigone by Sophocles	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 19, 2025 10:47AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Oedipus Cycle by Sophocles. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Oedipus Cycle by Sophocles <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan rated a book liked it Hunter S. Thompson: The Last Interview and Other Conversations by Hunter S. Thompson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
For me, the highlight of the book was the guy who talked to Hunter Thompson in 1990, 1994, 1999, and then one last time in 2000. But it's kind of a bummer that the "last interview" HST gave was to a college student who obviously had not read much of ...more
Nov 16, 2025 03:21PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Hunter S. Thompson by Hunter S. Thompson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Hunter S. Thompson by Hunter S. Thompson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan rated a book really liked it Gustav Klimt: Painter of Women by Susanna Partsch	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 16, 2025 09:29AM · like
Emmett Grogan rated a book liked it The He-Man Effect: How American Toymakers Sold You Your Childhood by Brian "Box" Brown	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 26, 2025 07:45PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The He-Man Effect by Brian "Box" Brown. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The He-Man Effect by Brian "Box" Brown <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan rated a book really liked it The King Is Dead: Stories by Walter Tevis	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The sci-fi stories are 5 stars; the pool hustling stories and chess story are 4 stars; the rest of the collection is 3 stars: so, I'd give THE KING IS DEAD a solid 4-star rating. The only thing that could have made this collection better, in my opini ...more
Sep 23, 2025 08:12AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The King Is Dead by Walter Tevis. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The King Is Dead by Walter Tevis <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan rated a book really liked it The Color of Money (Eddie Felson, #2) by Walter Tevis	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 12, 2025 07:53AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Color of Money by Walter Tevis. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Color of Money by Walter Tevis <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan wants to read Around the World in Eighty Games: From Tarot to Tic-Tac-Toe, Catan to Chutes and Ladders, a Mathematician Unlocks the Secrets of the World's Greatest Games by Marcus du Sautoy	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 04, 2025 08:20PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Around the World in Eighty Games by Marcus du Sautoy. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Around the World in Eighty Games by Marcus du Sautoy <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">