Split: A Counterculture Childhood – A Reminiscence of Activism, Communes, and Life in 1970s California

by Lisa Michaels

In Split, Lisa Michaels offers a strikingly textured portrait of her days of communes and road trips, of antiwar protests and rallies --- and of what came after, for her parents and herself --- as the radicalism of the 1960s and '70s gave way to conservative times. As a young child, Michaels visited her father in prison, where he was serving a two-year sentence for his part in an antiwar protest. In the early '70s, she toured the country with her mother and stepfather in a customized mail truck, complete with oriental rugs and a wood stove, until the family settled in a small northern California town. Her father later moved to the Bay Area, where he worked in auto plants and served as a labor organizer. By the age of eight Michaels was a veteran leaflet-folder, and she consecrated her father's second marriage in a Berkeley park by reading from Quotations from Chairman Mao. Not surprisingly, Michaels grew up craving conformity --- giving her mother makeovers and arranging their secondhand furniture in inspired ways --- but she also came to share the values her parents held independence, frankness, and unsparing self-examination. In the buttoned-up world of UCLA during the Reagan years, she went through a hippie revival phase, wearing batik dresses and Chairman Mao pins, a throwback amid the campus's Greek revivalists and young Republicans. Against that traditional backdrop her parents' longtime activism took on new meaning, and at twenty-two, much in the spirit of her upbringing, Michaels embarked on a trip through Asia. Observant, luminous, and wry, Split captures both the vulnerability and heady freedom of a counterculture childhood. It is a powerful blend of social reflection and personal reminiscence, a memoir that paints a clear-eyed and unforgettable picture of the ways in which the legacy of the '60s impacted one remarkable family.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Counter Culture

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1998

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, I felt misled by the sub-title “A counterculture childhood”. Yes, she and her mother lived in a mail truck and her parents were student activists in the 60s. Her father later become a union organizer and remains politically active. But, the title 'Split' is apt as the main theme seems to be about growing up as a child of divorced parents.
While the writing was excellent, and I did like the book overall, I would have appreciated this had it just been novel about a young girl/woman. I actually dislike it as a memoir. I wish the author had waited 15-20 years to write this book. It might have given her more perspective as to what would actually be of interest. I found the tone rather whiny, and the storyline a bit mired down by the petty, juvenile concerns (which we all had and can identify with) of youth.
After I finished the book, I did an online search to see who her father is (his real name isn't used in the book). He seems like a fascinating man and I would have liked to know more about him.

[Juliette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel totally duped by this memoir! It is described as being a memoir about a childhood in the counterculture, but Lisa Michaels' childhood in the counterculture is basically done by the time she's four or five years old. She lived in a commune with her mom for a summer when she was three. Her dad was in prison for his involvement with The Weathermen, but once he was out of prison, he dedicated his life to the labor movement and working in a factory in Los Angeles. After the summer commune, Lisa then lived in a mail truck on a cross-country trip to California. Her mom and stepdad settle in Northern California, become landlords, and eventually her mom becomes a teacher. Lisa grew up in spilt households that were stable and loving. This memoir is basically her life as a pretty normal, average, self-doubting, melancholy kid and ends when she turns 22. The writing is perfectly fine but again nothing very counterculture happens! I kept wondering when the counterculture was going to enter Lisa's life again after the summer commune and cross-country living in a mail truck...it never really did return. Instead, the book is just about her experiences in school all the way up through college (UCLA) and ending with a trip to India and Nepal. I really have no idea why this book was billed as anything other than the memoir of an average girl growing up in California in the 60s 70s and 80s.

[Ruth Soz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this was bittersweet. It's the one book my brother told me to read once I got him to join Goodreads. He must have asked me if I had read it at least 3 times, and the answer was always, "Not yet..." I can see why he liked it so much - he was born 2 years after the author (in 1968), and was nostalgic for his childhood and the era he grew up in.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite memoirs of all time - funny, real, well-written and unique.

[Darcee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book,and even better--got to meet the author at a book festival in Flagstaff!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa Michaels' writing is often fresh and beautiful, and that alone makes this memoir worth reading. There were some places, deep in the book where it dragged a bit for me, not sure why, maybe just that I got tired of her particular angsts. Or, digging a bit more, I realize I got annoyed with, wearied by her anger towards her father, her hostility towards his wife. Not being in her situation, and her youthfulness myself, it was easier to see how hard she was being on both of them.
However, the ending in the mountains of Nepal, and the way she tells of her encounter with her own (possible, really likely) death brings the whole book to another very powerful level. To convey this I will let Lisa Michaels speak for herself: "It's difficult to build suspense in a tale of peril in the first person. The story survives, so it gives up its ending. But as I went through that day, I didn't know how it would end. That was the terror. (Or I could say, that is the terror, for all of us live with the ignorance of our fates,though we manage to submerge that fact for long stretches.)"

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great deal of talented writing

Memoir of a woman who grew up in a non-traditional family. Story was written so clearly that by the end of the book, it felt like the author was a friend. The ending was a surprise. It seemed to abruptly end, although the ending was consistent with the author's hoped and dreams. I hope there is a sequel to find out what happens next.

[Korrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, but suffers from what ails so many memoirs -- namely, that the first half or so of the book is much more interesting reading than the second.

[Ashlee Stephenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was overall a pretty good read that I enjoyed very much. The authors struggles in her memoir about growing up as the daughter of a radical father and a hippie mother--but mostly just about growing up. The author was born in 1966 to parents deeply involved in the Zeitgeist. Her father spent two years in jail as a member of the radical Weathermen underground. Michaels, a contributing editor at the Threepenny Review, a literary journal, spent a pre-kindergarten year on the road with her mother and stepfather, living out of a mail van, before settling down to an alternative lifestyle in northern California. Although it was a bittersweet book, it was very interesting and surprisingly somewhat educational. I enjoyed it, although it wasn't what I was expecting. I was expecting her to talk about her life growing in a counterculture world, and being split between her ways of life when in reality the main point of the book was her struggles with her parents divorce. I enjoyed how the book progressed throughout her life and throughout the new cultures. I found it very interesting that her mother and father were so different and on completely opposite sides of the spectrum when it came to the new counterculture. It was a very unique but well written memoir, and it helped me to see more of what it would have been like to live through the changing of eras and being pulled in two opposite directions of lifestyles. I would like to research more about the father, because he seems like a very interesting guy. As I tried to research him, I realized his real name was never used in the book. I wonder why the author never used her father's real name in the book and also found it very interesting that she decided to write about her life experiences. It makes me wonder how many other stories like Lisa’s exists as cultures began to change throughout history. It gave me a new view on how people were being split between cultures rather than just seeing it at the 60’s and 70’s “hippie” life full of drugs and other things. The author did not mention drugs and rarely mentioning other things that are often involved in stereotypes of hippies. This book helped me to break down some stereotypes or bias’ that I had about the counterculture movement and the people involved in it. In conclusion I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys memoirs and stories about new cultures, as I found it very interesting. I would say that if you are looking for a better understanding of what it would be like to grow up in a changing culture and how that could affect someone's life that this book would be a good choice for you. I recommend having an open mind while reading this book because it may cause you to change your ideas on what many people consider hippies and what any people's preconceived ideas are about the 60’s and 70’s counterculture.

[Kathleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't bother finishing this one. I only gave it a few chapters. Was still bored so I started another book.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was supposed to be about communes! There were two pages of that and then a fairly compelling story that I don't think I'll remember tomorrow.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read. I wish I was a teen in the 60's and 70's!

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very liberal parenting.