Zdobyć Woodstock

by Elliot Tiber, Tom Monte, Barbara Zosińska (Translator)

Elliot Tiber kieruje rodzinnym motelem, organizuje festiwale muzyczno-teatralne dla niewielkiej społeczności White Lake oraz przewodniczy miejscowej Izbie Handlowej. Poznaje sławy świata artystycznego tamtych czasów: Trumana Capote, Tennesee Williamsa, Roberta Mapplethorpe'a. Ukrywa przed nimi swoją orientację seksualną. Po zamieszkach w Stonewall Inn w czerwcu 1969 roku Tiber wchodzi na drogę życiowej przemiany, która dokonuje się podczas festiwalu w Woodstock. "Zdobyć Woodstock" to opowieść naocznego świadka niezwykłych wydarzeń, które zapoczątkowały walkę o równoprawne traktowanie osób homoseksualnych oraz wstrząsnęły konserwatywnym społeczeństwem amerykańskim. Jest to również historia wewnętrznej przemiany jednostki, dojrzewania do prawdziwej miłości i podjęcia własnej, niezależnej drogi życiowej.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, History, LGBT, Biography Memoir, Biography

179 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2006

Reviews

[Nev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched the movie adaptation of the book back when it came out in 2009. At the time I don’t think I was aware that it was based on a memoir. While the movie (from what I can remember) is much more focused on the struggling motel and Elliot volunteering his town after hearing that the Woodstock festival needed a last minute change of location, the book has a much larger scope. The book goes way more in-depth with his complicated dynamic with his family as well as his experiences being a gay man in New York City in the 60s.

I can understand why if somebody went into this book only wanting behind the scenes information about how Woodstock came to take place in Bethel, New York then they might be disappointed by how the first half of the book is really just about Elliot’s life. I didn’t mind though because I thought his stories about realizing his sexuality, his experiences with BDSM, the leather scene, various celebrities, and Stonewall were fascinating.

Of course there’s also a lot of cool stories about what Elliot and his family went through in the weeks leading up to Woodstock with their motel and the other people in the town. I enjoyed reading Elliot’s thoughts about how having more queer people, hippies, and people embracing a free love mentality made him open up more at home than he had in the past.

Overall this is an interesting read if you’re looking for both queer memoir and Woodstock behind the scenes. The writing wasn’t the strongest, but I had a good time reading it.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw the movie without knowing there was a book on which it was based, so the night after I saw it, I downloaded the book to my Kindle. It was enjoyable but not what I was expecting.

The movie is a pretty faithful adaptation of the Woodstock chapters, so there's that. The first half of the book, though, is about Tiber's life prior to Woodstock landing in his (literal) backyard. Those chapters self-congratulate and name drop (he lived in the same building as Tennessee Williams, he was friendly with Truman Capote, he once had dinner with Marlon Brando, he studied under artist Mark Rothko in college, he once slept with Robert Mapplethorpe, etc.) and sometimes veer into intimate discussions of Tiber's sexuality to a degree that made me a little uncomfortable. (Tiber's a gay masochist, which I don't have a problem with. But there are scenes early in the book involving a teenage Tiber going to Times Square movie theaters in which there are sex acts with older men, and the pedophilic aspect of that squicked me a little. I also wasn't expecting the BDSM stuff that comes later in a memoir on which a fairly sweet movie is based, so that took me off-guard a little.)

I get why some discussion of this was necessary; the book (and the movie) is less about Woodstock and more about Tiber's coming to terms with who he is and how he relates to his family. The vast number of people of all stripes at Woodstock, especially all of the gay people he encounters, gets him thinking about coming out to his parents.

The prose is sometimes stilted, the book gets redundant, and some of the Woodstock planning minutiae is not that interesting, which held the book back from getting a higher rating, but it was still fairly interesting.

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was totally fascinating, however I can understand many of the negative reviews. Many thought it would be about the glamour of Woodstock which it is not. It is not about Santana, Jimi Hendrix, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Grateful Dead and all of the dozens of other musicians with a message of the time. The story is about a young homosexual man that ended up being a major player in making Woodstock a success. The story starts with the authors childhood in Brooklyn with a strong, insensitive and demanding Jewish mother and he shares the story of his youth and much of his sexual activity. He describes his life in Greenwich village and encounters with Rock Hudson, Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote. As it turns out his parents own an old rundown motel in Bethel, New York where he also was the elected president of the Chamber of Commerce. These facts along with the fact that he owned a permit to put on a music festival every year led him to convincing the Woodstock promoters to move from Woodstock where they had encountered stiff opposition. This story gives insight to the turmoil of the late sixties, Viet Nam, Civil Rights and many of the dramatic cultural changes of that time for which we now take for granted and often fail to realize that those changes were earned. I read the book because when I reflect back on my life, I would do little different, however, two things I would change. I would go to Woodstock and would be there for the fall of the Berlin Wall. You may or may not like the message or the story, but it is told in a unique and compelling way. After Woodstock the author became a writer with several bestsellers including an effort about Europe in World War II that also became a movie.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I was a little confused as it wasn't just a memoir based around Woodstock but more so of the guy creating it and his life. It wasn't what I thought it would be but it was an interesting non fiction nevertheless

[Justin Hampton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this bad boy up in a few hours after the massive comedown of "The Idiot" and found it a nice chaser - a necessary palliative to what was easily one of the darkest novels I've ever read. Tiber is every bit the old-school Brooklyn-born hustler, and structures this story like a sitcom, replete with eccentric but lovable hippies, "Nazi" hick nemeses and stereotypical nagging Jewish parents. You'll never get me to believe in a million years that this book resembles anything close a truthful history of Woodstock, but Tiber's perspective as the guy who granted Woodstock's organizers the permit to throw the festival in Bethel after being booted unceremoniously from Walkill is still a valuable one, and at points extremely moving. It is only now as I head into middle age that I recognize how strongly the countercultural experiments of the '60s have shaped me, for better or worse. And nestled within the silly comic anecdotes is a strong argument for how vital and important the social, spiritual and sexual experiments of the Aquarian Age were, not only for closeted homosexuals like Tiber and other societal outcasts at the time, but for everyone else that came afterwards - punks, goths, ravers, juggalos and whoever else needs to carve out their own space of freedom in the American landscape. Woodstock showed all of them how, and especially now, as rock and EDM festivals are currently being paved over and repositioned as cushy corporate branding exercises, it's important to remember what exactly made this moment a cultural touchstone.

[Jeanette (Ms. Feisty) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Urp! This one nearly gave me indigestion. Tiber admits to heavy use of pot and hash and other drugs during this period of his life, which makes me doubt the reliability of his bizarre version of events. How much of this did he hallucinate or misremember? He even says he doesn't remember a single detail of what he did following his first acid trip.

I give this two stars instead of one because I did learn some things about pre-Woodstock difficulties and the reasons the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival almost didn't happen. The first half of the book has nothing at all to do with Woodstock. It's a largely self-pitying autobiography of a gay Jewish boy growing up in New York. I did appreciate having my eyes opened about the abominable way gay men were treated in NYC in the 50s and 60s. He could have left out the graphic descriptions of his sexploits and the dropping of names of people with whom he had liaisons, or could have if he'd pursued it. Robert Mapplethorpe, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, and Rock Hudson are portrayed in the least flattering moments of their lives.

Of the Woodstock Festival itself he relates almost nothing. Tiber didn't actually attend Woodstock because he was too busy running his parents' motel. This book (the second half, anyway) is about how the festival came to be and the people who made it happen.

Did I happen to mention, this guy tries really hard to be funny? He's not.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reason I picked this book up was because I have been going to Bethel, NY every summer for 22 years. My family has been going there for over 50 and some witnessed Woodstock first hand. I love hearing my grandparents talk about the weeks when all the hippies invaded town. They’ve told me stories about how they let all who could reach take apples from the tree on their property (since there was such a shortage of food), and gave dozens of people money to make phone calls (since they didn’t even have a phone in their house at the time!).

My first thought was that this book would be an account of the festival itself. But, basically, the book ends where Woodstock begins. Taking Woodstock is really two stories in one. One is about the struggles and effort involved in actually bringing 3 days of peace and music to Max Yasgur’s farm. The other story is about the author, Elliot Tiber, the person responsible for bringing Woodstock to Bethel, NY.

Tiber tells his story with cleverness and humor. He makes the weeks leading up to August 15 sounds like a truly overwhelming adventure. My favorite part of the book was the developing relationship between Elliot and his parents. The way Woodstock ended up bringing them together and making their bonds (especially father-son) stronger made me laugh and cry!

If you have any interest about life in the 60’s, Woodstock, or a brief background of rock and roll music, you will enjoy this book. If you are not open to an in depth and very personal look into gay man’s life you may want to pass on this one. All in all it was a fun book that in the end left me wanting more. With Woodstock Music and Art Festival’s 40th Anniversary coming up on August 15th, you should pick it up for a highly entertaining, quick read.

[Michael Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

It wasn't very long ago - late sixties - when the police would routinely raid gay bars, beating up the patrons and arresting them on trumped up charges. Then came Stonewall. Eliot Tiber was a young participant at that moment when North American culture shifted and gay slowly began to be okay. Tiber was at the Stonewall Inn the night of the riot. Apparently he had a Forrest-Gump-esque talent for being at the right place at the right time, as he was also uniquely placed to participate in the phenomenon of Woodstock.

This memoir is more about the the process of coming out, of accepting oneself and being accepted, than about Woodstock, or any of the celebs the author knew. People reading this book for gossip about the bands, or the inside scoop on Brando or Truman Capote will be disappointed, but I found it unputdownable.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erstaunlich unterhaltsames Buch trotz des leicht abschreckenden quietschbunten Buchcovers.
Es ist mehr eine Autobiografie von Elliot Tiber (mit sehr viel Schönfärberei, was seinen Beitrag zum Woodstock Festival 69 betrifft). Egal wie viel dort tatsächlich Tiber persönlich erlebt oder was er dort "nur" beobachtet hat - die Organisation und die Zeit rund um das Festival war sogar noch verrückter als sich das mein Millennial-Gehirn ausmalen könnte! Die Musik ist nur Aufhänger, beschrieben wird hier in erster Linie das Lebensgefühl, die sozialen Zusammenhänge und das tägliche Leben von Randgruppen zur der Zeit. Der Erzählstil ist flott und sehr bildlich ohne eklig oder pervers rüberzukommen selbst wenn eher unappetitliche Begebenheiten beschrieben werden. Eine durchweg unterhaltsame Lektüre!

[James Hein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read and a lot of inside stories to Woodstock! Love the writing style and flow to the book...couldn’t put it down!

[Neil · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was disappointing. The first problem is that it takes Tiber a third of the book before he gets to anything about Woodstock. The first third is about the sleazy way in which his family runs a hotel. Tiber tries to blame this on his parents, but I don't see him fighting the practices much. He's as guilty of lying to the people who stay there as the mother he constantly berates. It's also about his sexual awakening as a homosexual, an awakening dominated by his taste for S & M. So you get page after page of a weird combination of gay celebrity name-dropping and bondage. Is there any famous gay person that Tiber didn't either have sex with or witness in some kind of debauchery? If you believe him, no, but frankly, after so many stories, and given how much he admits that he exaggerated and lied in his business dealings, it's hard to believe most of this book.

When Woodstock does come into the picture, it's more of the same. Although he tries to put himself at the epicenter, his real role, as the holder of a music festival permit that the real Woodstock organizers took over and the owner of the motel where some of the Woodstock planners stayed while they prepared the festival, is interesting, but not major. It mostly gives him an excuse for more exaggerated stories about wild parties and battles with the locals and various stereotypical baddies. As I've read after reading the book, organizer Mike Lang and the family of Max Yasgur dispute most of Tiber's claims about his roles in the organization of the festival.

Perhaps most disappointing of all is that when the actual festival finally starts, Tiber never got to it. Let me repeat: He does not attend Woodstock, unless you count listening to the faintest echoes of Richie Havens over the sound system many miles away (which again, seems unlikely to me). The closest he gets to attending is another story that sounds phony: a ride through the jammed highway from a motorcycle cop to get to the festival site where he drops acid and has a threesome with a godlike young couple in a van. When the actual festival starts, he is back running the motel where he supposedly delivered a motorcyclist's baby in the parking lot.

I was about to quit this book when the organizers of Woodstock finally showed up, and because I'm interested in that event, I kept going. I should have followed my instincts and quit then. I'm glad if Mr. Tiber found some peace with his life and got out of debt. I'm glad that gay people in America made some political strides and wish they could make more. But it's hard not to notice how difficult it would be to verify many of the dozens of stories in this memoir, how much it sounds like the tall tales of a lifelong exaggerator.

[Curt Buchmeier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've not watched the motion picture & I never let the facts stand in the way of a good story. I happened to be in the Bethel area in 2011 so I drove around & found the site of the concert. Impressive. I've always been interested in the subject. Back to the book. After a couple of days to digest, I gotta say, I liked the author's account of how the whole thing went down. He is a very proud & out gay man now & refers to that aspect of his being frequently. This book is about his coming to terms with his sexuality as much as it is about the festival. It is not for the easily offended, because they will be. Tiber has an easy to follow and humorous story to tell. Basically, this is "Gonzo" history. I mean that I'm acknowledging the late Hunter Thompson & his brand of telling another side of an historically significant story. What is on the page may have happened, & most of it definitely did. But certain details of this account may have been influenced by the booze or drugs or simply to make for a better story. Regardless, great subject and well told by the author. I do recommend it for those who are interested in the hippie movement & the Woodstock Music & Arts Festival in particular. It's a coming(out)of age saga with an incredible back drop and all that went into & on during those three days back in 1969. Peace.

[Brian Bess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking Wallkill?

1969 was a pivotal year in the life of Elliot Tiber. He had already made smaller gestures of rebellion when he changed his name from Teichberg upon entering college years earlier. He was the only son in a family of daughters so his parents, particularly his mother, placed unrealistic expectations on him to both help support his parents and help them run their fleabag motel in Bethel, New York as well as to marry a nice Jewish girl.

Meanwhile, Elliot had obtained a degree in Art and lived a closeted life as a gay man in Greenwich Village. He had gotten into art school at Brooklyn College and come into contact with artists such as Mark Rothko and photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe. This also brought him in contact with the larger theatrical and literary community, where he encountered Marlon Brando, Wally Cox, Tennessee Williams, and Truman Capote.

In the 1950’s and ‘60’s, being gay was a dangerous life and one had to live very surreptitiously. Even so, it was easy to become a victim of entrapment by plainclothes policemen. The police would stage periodic raids of gay bars and regularly indulge in harassment. Elliot was used to a life of hiding and running until the evening of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn where the police encountered resistance. The gay patrons in the bar said this is enough, barricaded themselves in, attracting more police but even more passersby who contributed to the riot from the outside, attracting cries of “Gay power!” and more momentum and publicity. Elliot left the crowd after some proud moments.

Despite this sense of liberation and refusal to cower and hide in public, back in Bethel, Elliot was still the ungrateful son to the Jewish Mother from Hell and a silent, cowering father. He did become the president of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce and was friendly with most of the local businessmen. He was also trying to help his parents as much as possible despite the constant possibility of losing their mortgage on the El Monaco Motel which, the way it was run, was hardly worth saving. His mother made customers pay extra for towels, there were dummy television sets and air conditioners in most of the rooms, and her idea of providing clean linens wash to run them through the lake and hang them up to dry.

He did try to provide some local culture by having annual music festivals, which consisted of him playing some of his favorite albums through amplified speakers and staging performances by a theatrical group, the Earthlight Players. One day he was reading a newspaper article about nearby Wallkill backing out of their original offer to allow a new music festival organized by Woodstock Associates because the town fathers worried about the influx of hippies, sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. Elliot immediately thought of the area surrounding his parents’ motel and contacted Woodstock Associates, whose CEO was a man named Michael Lang. Elliot had a permit for a music festival on his parents’ land and arranged to have Lang come out to survey the land.

Lang said their land was not sufficient. It was too small and swampy for the expected crowds. According to Elliot, he introduced him to his friend and neighbor, Max Yasgur, who had a very large, successful dairy farm nearby, and took him over to meet Max. According to Lang, Elliot put him in touch with a local real estate salesman who took him over to meet Yasgur.

Lang met every one of Yasgur’s demands for monetary securities and contractual assurance to clean up the property after the festival and return it to its pre-festival state. Michael Lang seemed to have an unlimited supply of bags of cash and assured Yasgur that every obligation would be met. Michael Lang strikes Elliot as a cherubic Buddha who is unflappable and exudes serenity upon encountering each material obstacle.

According to Elliot Tiber, he was present at these meetings and became the local public face of the management of this festival, instantly incurring the wrath of most of the local businessmen, especially after the press conference he held where, under the influence of a couple of joints, he made a rambling, cosmic announcement that essentially stated that the festival was free. Floodgates opened after that and the national media got hold of the story, drawing travelers not only from across the country but internationally.

Even though Elliot was on the go almost constantly, with steady supplies of coffee and pot to keep him going yet mellowed out, he embraced the whirlwind the next month of his life became. His parents were also swept up in the current. He and his father worked together a great deal and established a bond they had never had before. Despite mellowing slightly from some marijuana cookies Elliot made for his parents, his mother was critical of her ungrateful son and the unwelcome upheaval of her life till her dying day. Whether she was this much of a caricature, who can say?

Although Elliot was too busy to attend the festival, he got a ride on a sympathetic cop’s motorcycle and encountered a hippie couple that invited him in to their camper and gave him some acid, leading him to a transcendental, sexual/perceptual cosmic trip where egos melted. He depicts this scene as one of those ultimate benevolent acid trips depicted in stereotypical fashion in many of the films of that era. He said later that the acoustics of the sound bouncing off the nearby lake were almost perfect for delivering the music with crystal clarity even four miles away where he was most of the time—Richie Havens, Arlo Guthrie, Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Jimi Hendrix. Even if they were too far away to see, you could certainly hear them.

I don’t know for sure how much of Elliot Tiber’s memoir is factual and most of the facts cannot be corroborated by any of the primary participants who are all dead now--Elliot Tiber, his parents, Michael Lang, the show business, theatrical figures of New York—Marlon Brando, Wally Cox, Mark Rothko, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote. Whether much of it is fabricated in order to elevate Elliot’s sense of importance to the Woodstock festival, it is still an engaging narrative that captures the transformational cultural spirit of the summer of 1969. It changed the course of Elliot Tiber’s life as well as almost everyone who was involved with it.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a background story to one of the most influential and intriguing concerts the US has seen. Coming from the pen of the guy who helped it all happen, this story is a beautiful account of true events: Elliot Tiber (born Eliyahun Teichberg) sharing the troubles of being born to a Jewish family that does not approve of his homosexual orientation (but we see at the end, his father knows, and approves, just wanting his son to be happy) financial struggles trying to keep the family motel alive, Elliot's friendship with a kind-hearted old farmer, how the magic started, unfolded, and exploded, and even a beautiful birth of a baby girl on the Yasgur farm during the event. This book brought tears to my eyes, joy to my heart, and a wicked longing to have been there during the earth-shattering event.
Only 9 more days until the movie comes out! :)

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elliot Tiber tells the story of the Woodstock music festival from his own perspective. His family's hotel served as the headquarters for the Woodstock organizers during the weeks leading up to the festival, and as such gave Elliot unparalleled insight into all that went on behind the scenes. From insane amounts of traffic turning an entire town into a parking lot, to locals being unwilling or unable to see the value in such a festival and trying their best (to humorous effect) to shut down the festival, to poignant anecdotes of young people loving and caring for friends and strangers alike, this story shows a fascinating perspective of this famous festival that I never knew.

Humorous, insightful, and touching, Elliot's memoir was a joy to read.

[Westy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. Liked the writing style, short quick read, lots of funny parts. But in a book about Woodstock I was surprised the first half had NOTHING to do with Woodstock. 215 page book and only the last 100 pages were about Woodstock.

Lots of name dropping sexcapades, very heavy on sex, S&M, lots of parts were almost uncomfortable. But overall painted a good picture of the struggles of being a gay man in the 60s and how the summer of 69' changed him. Mr Tiber lived an interesting life and he had a huge part in Woodstock even happening all because he had a permit to hold an arts & music festival~

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw the movie, naturally, but the book was a considerably less whitewashed version of the story. The first half of the book isn't about Woodstock at all, but if you enjoy memoirs of unusual lives, Tiber's certainly is one. They way gays were treated in the 1950s and most of the 1960s will leave modern listeners stunned.
If you came for the Woodstock story, this is an interesting behind the scenes look at the other side of America's most famous rock music festival, even though some of it was a bit grotesque.

[Koeeoaddi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part gay man coming of age memoir, part Woodstock hippie-ana, it's a short, entertaining, name dropping read, if sometimes a little TMI for my taste. I did love his parents' hotel from Hell in the Catskills. [Imagine Fawlty Towers run by Don Rickles and Ida Morgenstern.]

Note to Woodstock historians: you would be out of an occupation without this guy. He. Got. The. Permit.

[Elina Mäkitalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kirjan aihe oli todella mielenkiintoinen ja tämäkin tarina otti heti mukaansa. Kieli oli hyvin joustavaa ja helposti eteenpäin menevää, luinkin suhteellisen nopeasti tämän ja pidin valtavan paljon. Luen aiheesta varmasti lisää myöhemmin.

[Ariel Gummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on self acceptance I have ever read. Absolutely still relevant today and an amazing reminder of how far our society has come culturally and how far we still have to go.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this rates as one of the best books I have ever read. I would call it a book about self-acceptance.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

This buoyant, upbeat memoir is a vivid record of one young man’s emergence from relative obscurity to becoming number one facilitator of one of the greatest rock festivals of all times. Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life tells of how Elliot Tiber worked his way up from being a much put upon youngster, subjected to his own mother’s verbal abuse, as well as to the prejudices of broader society, to using his leverage as President of the Bethel Chamber of Commerce to arrange for the translocation of the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival to his own home town, on the shores of White Lake in Napier County, upstate New York.

Tiber’s ability to triumph over the odds that so often seemed stacked against him provides the backbone to the book. From a position as an underdog, feeling isolated and estranged, he tells of how his growing awareness that there were others like him in the world enabled him to express his pent-up rage in the Stonewall riots. He grows in stature throughout the book, from being a kid whose only form of close physical contact is being groped in a movie theater, through his encounters with such leading cultural figures as Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and Robert Mapplethorpe, to becoming a leading Manhattan interior designer who is single-handedly able to rescue his motel, the El Monaco, from the brink of financial collapse through his own foresight and determination. His relationship with his Dad grows, too, to one where they come to view each other with an equal degree of love and respect.

Exposing his vulnerabilities to his readership, Tiber succeeds in conveying an overall sense of purpose and meaning in his life, despite his tending to downplay the importance of his own actions. Encountering a myriad of obstacles, he shows how he was able to overcome each one in turn. But this is not a moral tale—in fact, the more conservative readership might even regard parts of the narrative as leaning towards the immoral, or even the amoral. And, oh boy, Tiber certainly doesn’t mince words about his exploits, including, above all, his penchant for S&M sex (one of the bungalows at his motel, he does not hesitate to tell us, was dedicated to the pursuance of such ends during the six weeks surrounding the Woodstock mega-event). The spirit wins out in all respects over the flesh, though, and this tale is a triumphant and joyous one.

This edition of Taking Woodstock was brought out to commemorate the 41st anniversary of Woodstock and the continued popularity of the film by the same name, directed by the Oscar-winning Ang Lee, and which is based on Tiber’s account of events. Taking Woodstock: A True Story of a Riot, a Concert, and a Life should appeal to all those who have empathy with the gay cause, as well as to all those who are interested in the iconic legends of the second half of the 20th century.
 

[Ray Dunsmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

All my life, I never understood why on earth people wanted to go to Woodstock - time machine or otherwise. When asked the question "If you could go back in time to any concert, what would it be?" I'd usually answer Monterey Pop - better lineup, more well-run, bit less of a massive smelly pit of drugged-out weirdoes, less like a commune that didn't actually produce anything. Then I read Elliot Tiber's memoir - he was part-owner of the El Monaco motel in Bethel which became official Woodstock headquarters when he suggested his neighbor Max Yasgur's farm as a location. Tiber's book deals mainly with the struggles of coming to terms with his identity as a gay man in 1969 - the year of the Stonewall riots, which it turns out he was present for. There's a lot of stuff in here about that - fascinating stuff. He had dinner with Brando & Wally Cox, had serious sadomasochistic sex with Robert Mapplethorpe, among others. And the festival helps him bring himself together, taking him from a scattered, anxious boy enslaved to his parents' perpetually-failing business to a confident man who knows exactly who he is and how to be. I understand the appeal now - it was a veritable nation of misfits, all come together to peacefully coexist and find community. Hard to resist a pull like that. A fascinating coming-of-age tale. How much of it is true? Shit, how much of any of our memories are true? As long as it's a good story, who cares?

[ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up to counter the people in the reviews passing judgement on Tiber for what he enjoyed (drugs, S&M, gay sex lol). I also see people complaining that this wasn’t really about Woodstock, but I feel like they’ve missed the point. this book *is* about Woodstock, even as Tiber never attends the concert, because the whole narrative arc is about how being involved with the Woodstock Festival changed his life dramatically and irrevocably, just one story of many about how this festival was life changing, with ripples lasting far beyond the 3 days of the festival itself.

I love the film Taking Woodstock, and so was excited to read this and compare. once I started reading, I was immediately struck by how much sanitisation of Tiber was done in the film. his gayness is a central theme in this book, whereas it barely gets a passing nod of acknowledgment in the film. in the film, Elliot is a timid, awkward, inexperienced guy who’s never really had any life of his own. in the book he’s drinking and sleeping with famous writers, selling his art and participating in all kinds of partying and sex long before Woodstock. I’ve come away from reading this feeling a bit less favourably towards the film, now realising it’s yet another instance of the queerness of a story being massively toned down and sanitised. but I’m glad to have read Tiber’s own telling of the story, even if I do wonder how often he decides to let his artistic licence have a bit of a field day lol.

[Barbara Rice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I needed an entertaining book for a long plane ride and grabbed this in a used bookstore. I'll give it this: it was indeed entertaining.

By page 3 I was dubious. How was it this guy remembered how very witty he had been sixty years before? How did he manage to be the star of every anecdote he recounted? As the story wore on, he went from being witty to Zelig-like: if there was a famous gay man, he had sex with them. He placed himself at Stonewall. He walked in on an orgy featuring Rock Hudson. He smoked a lot of weed. He's still being witty.

When Tiber gets around to Woodstock - the first 80-some pages are pretty much all about sex - he essentially becomes the hero, the guy who makes it happen. He delivers a baby. He meets up with a trans dominatrix who scares off a Mafia-type. He and his father join forces to whack troublemakers with baseball bats. He has lots more sex with dialogue straight out of porn films. He has a threesome on acid. He doesn't actually go to Woodstock but he can hear it.

Seldom have I ever read so much horseshit in one book. Entertaining horseshit, to be sure, but still horseshit. Maybe I have totally misjudged him. I wasn't there. It COULD have happened the way he says. But I call horseshit.

[Eric Lawless · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not a life changing book or anything but it was very enjoyable to read. The book tells the story of Elliot Tiber finding himself at the epicenter of The Aquarian Exposition in 1969, dealing with his own life as a designer in N.Y.C. through the week and "managing" his parents upstate New York motel on the weekends and coming to terms with his sexuality. Elliot Tiber experienced a whole different taste of life by contacting concert promoter Mike Lang in late 1968 and, as president of the White Lake Chamber of Commerce, giving "The Aquarian Exposition"(better known as "Woodstock") a place to land after being spurned from other small upstate New York towns such as Woodstock and Bethel. In a small way Tiber helped give birth to the so-called "Woodstock Nation", all while finding himself in the process, interesting & enjoyable read.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Coming out and taking in Woodstock! Tiber’s story about growing up in New York City before Stonewall and meeting famous people is riveting. The Stonewall riots are covered here in a way that I had not read before. Fascinating and oh so interesting for a gay man living on the prairies who is about the same age as Tiber.

In 1969, I was 18 years old and the Woodstock stories swept through my prairie town like they did everywhere in the world. I was that rebel, the long haired weirdo, who felt particularly alone especially being gay. The music changed in 1969 gave us the great acts that performed at Woodstock, most of whom I have seen in concert. It was a movement that I identified with and that made me feel a part of something real and youth oriented.

Reading this book was like going home to a place that I left long ago but always loved.

[Kayrene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this story very entertaining. So, so much history told, in this tale; about the 60s, about prejudice towards gays, about beginning to change our attitudes and just "be better". I definitely didin't completely understand the restrictions back then. I found his home life, and his childhood pretty heartbreaking. His mom, a piece of work. But, the breakdown of how Woodstock happened, how it ended up in Bethel, how they managed to pull it off despite the challenges, is really, really good reading! Best wishes to you, Mr. Tiber, and thank you for sharing your story.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an eye opener to say the least. It wasn't at all what I expected but was enjoyable (and shocking) nonetheless. Not too long ago I read a book called "Just Friends" which was about Patti Smith's relationship with Robert Maplethorpe. The version of Robert that I met in "Taking Woodstock" made my jaw drop. I felt like I caught him cheating on Patti. There are quite a few passages in this book that are not for the faint of heart.

[Taneli Viitahuhta · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's totally subjective, at points silly, almost all of the time cliché-ridden, but only very seldom objectionable or disturbing. If you like to get a personal, moving and (given the cartoonish propping up of the book that no-one could ever call "objective") historically interesting take on Woodstock, and what made this event so significant for the flower power generation, give it a read.