889 ratings | 73 reviews | avg rating:3.34

Emmett’s Year In Books

Emmett’s 2025 Year in Books

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

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read (892)
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Julianne Chester

874 books | 70 friends

Margherita

2,018 books | 4,566 friends

William2

2,247 books | 2,896 friends

Lonnie

1,662 books | 7 friends

Zac

1,637 books | 11 friends

Sam

147 books | 711 friends

Alan

803 books | 707 friends

2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

CHALLENGE

Emmett Grogan has read 15 of 44 books.

34%

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 · 1,067 ratings · 159 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) 4.13 avg rating — 533 ratings — published 1972 — 35 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) 3.95 avg rating — 357 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 — 143 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 3.45 avg rating — 29 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
	Different Times 3.60 avg rating — 5 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
	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

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The Left and the Lucky

by Willy Vlautin

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Apr 19, 2026 12:34PM

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Emmett’s Recent Updates

Apr 28, 2026 09:33AM
Emmett Grogan has read We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer (Goodreads Author)	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
I haven't read the novel, but I did read the top-rated review, and damn! -- the reviewer should be invited to guest lecture at a creative writing program somewhere! One of the best (detailed, yet succinct!) reviews I have ever had the pleasure of rea ...more
Apr 28, 2026 09:25AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan and 1194 other people liked Augie's review of We Used to Live Here: "Guys, can we be for real for a second. Can we be serious. This book was bad. We Used to Live Here has an interesting premise for a horror story. A twist on a home invasion preying on social anxiety and the rules of politeness. A family is in your hous" Read more of this review »
Apr 28, 2026 09:17AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan is on page 6 of 256 of The Left and the Lucky The Left and the Lucky by Willy Vlautin 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
Apr 28, 2026 09:17AM · like · see status · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Left and the Lucky by Willy Vlautin. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Left and the Lucky by Willy Vlautin <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan rated a book it was amazing Knock-Offs : Totally Unauthorized Action Figures by Brian Heiler	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 only way this could be even more of a five-star reference book is, if you doubled the page count.
Apr 19, 2026 12:32PM · 1 like · like · see review
Emmett Grogan rated a book it was amazing Early Days: Indigenous Art from the McMichael by Bonnie Devine	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
Comprehensive, but very, very academic. I don't think this book could have been published 20 years ago, not because there wasn't interest in the work, but because the white ladies who curate Canada's art, didn't have the language and concepts used in ...more
Apr 19, 2026 11:05AM · like · see review
Emmett Grogan is now following Tiffany and Augie
Apr 18, 2026 08:58AM
Emmett Grogan rated a book liked it FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven (Goodreads Author)	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 rare book where I wish there was a 3.5 star rating. Not as good as WORLD WAR Z, but it held my interest right until the last page, and had some interesting ideas to explore (but still: not as original, or realistic (!) as WORLD WAR Z.)
Apr 03, 2026 04:48PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Emmett Grogan rated a book really liked it American Comic Book Chronicles, The 1980's 1980-1989 by Keith Dallas	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
Mar 22, 2026 10:54AM · like