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Revolutionaries: A novel
In his second novel, the acclaimed author of
The Sabotage Caf�
leads us on a long, strange trip through the heart of the sixties and beyond, as seen through the eyes of the revolution's poster child.
Fred is the sole offspring of Lenny Snyder, the famous (or notorious) pied piper of the counterculture, and in middle age he hates being reminded of it. But neither can he ignore any longer his psychedelically bizarre childhood. From infancy, for instance, he was called Freedom (in fact his given name) not only by those who should have known him but also by members of the burgeoning movement led by his father, who happily exploited having his wife and his toddling, then walking and talking, and finally observant son in tow. Thanks to Fred, this charismatic, brilliant, volatile ringmaster is as captivating in these pages as he was to his devoted disciples back then. We watch Lenny organize hippies and intellectuals, stage magnificent stunts, and gradually lose his magnetic confidence and leading role as the sixties start slipping away. He demands loyalty but gives none back in return, a man who preaches love but treats his family with almost reflexive cruelty. And Fred remembers all of it--the chaos, the spite, the affection. A kaleidoscopic saga, this novel is at once a profound allegory for America--where we've been and where we're going--and a deeply intimate portrait of a father and son who define our times.
Fred is the sole offspring of Lenny Snyder, the famous (or notorious) pied piper of the counterculture, and in middle age he hates being reminded of it. But neither can he ignore any longer his psychedelically bizarre childhood. From infancy, for instance, he was called Freedom (in fact his given name) not only by those who should have known him but also by members of the burgeoning movement led by his father, who happily exploited having his wife and his toddling, then walking and talking, and finally observant son in tow. Thanks to Fred, this charismatic, brilliant, volatile ringmaster is as captivating in these pages as he was to his devoted disciples back then. We watch Lenny organize hippies and intellectuals, stage magnificent stunts, and gradually lose his magnetic confidence and leading role as the sixties start slipping away. He demands loyalty but gives none back in return, a man who preaches love but treats his family with almost reflexive cruelty. And Fred remembers all of it--the chaos, the spite, the affection. A kaleidoscopic saga, this novel is at once a profound allegory for America--where we've been and where we're going--and a deeply intimate portrait of a father and son who define our times.
352 pages, Hardcover
Published April 16, 2019
29 people are currently reading
1328 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Furst
5 books47 followersJoshua Furst’s critically acclaimed book of stories, Short People, was described by the Miami Herald as “a near magical collection.” The Los Angeles Times called it “Startling . . . a thoughtful if disturbing portrait of what it means to be a child. Or, more to the point, what it means to be human.” And the Times of London said "Any one of these stories is enough to break your heart. . . . Joshua Furst's debut is both enjoyable and important.” His work has been published in The Chicago Tribune, Conjunctions, Five Chapters and The Crab Orchard Review among other places and given citations for notable achievement by The Best American Short Stories and The O’Henry Awards.
Among the awards and grants he has received are a 2001-2002 James Michener-Paul Engle Fellowship from the James Michener Foundation/Copernicus Society of America, a 1997 Chicago Tribune Nelson Algren Award for his short story “Red Lobster,” and fellowships from The MacDowell Colony and ArtOmi/Ledig House. He was a finalist for the 1992 Fringe First award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a runner up in the 2001 Playboy College Fiction Contest.
From 1993 through 1998, he was an active participant in the New York alternative theatre scene. Among other accomplishments in this field, he helped organize and run Nada Theatre’s 1995 Obie award winning Faust Festival and was one of the producers of the 1998 New York RAT conference which brought experimental theatre artists from across the United States together for a week of performance and symposia. His plays include Whimper, Myn and The Ellipse and Other Shapes. They have been produced by numerous theatres, both in the United States and abroad, including PS122, Adobe Theatre Company, Cucaracha Theatre Company, HERE, The Demarco European Art Foundation, and Annex Theatre in Seattle.
He studied as an undergraduate at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, receiving a BFA in Dramatic Writing in 1993 and did graduate work at The University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, from which he received an MFA with Honors in 2001.
Joshua Furst lives in New York City, and teaches fiction and playwriting at The Pratt Institute.
Among the awards and grants he has received are a 2001-2002 James Michener-Paul Engle Fellowship from the James Michener Foundation/Copernicus Society of America, a 1997 Chicago Tribune Nelson Algren Award for his short story “Red Lobster,” and fellowships from The MacDowell Colony and ArtOmi/Ledig House. He was a finalist for the 1992 Fringe First award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and a runner up in the 2001 Playboy College Fiction Contest.
From 1993 through 1998, he was an active participant in the New York alternative theatre scene. Among other accomplishments in this field, he helped organize and run Nada Theatre’s 1995 Obie award winning Faust Festival and was one of the producers of the 1998 New York RAT conference which brought experimental theatre artists from across the United States together for a week of performance and symposia. His plays include Whimper, Myn and The Ellipse and Other Shapes. They have been produced by numerous theatres, both in the United States and abroad, including PS122, Adobe Theatre Company, Cucaracha Theatre Company, HERE, The Demarco European Art Foundation, and Annex Theatre in Seattle.
He studied as an undergraduate at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, receiving a BFA in Dramatic Writing in 1993 and did graduate work at The University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, from which he received an MFA with Honors in 2001.
Joshua Furst lives in New York City, and teaches fiction and playwriting at The Pratt Institute.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
April 19, 2019
Furst's Revolutionaries is a coming of age story about what a long strange trip it's been. Freedom is his name and his parents were hippies, particularly his dad, Lenny Snyder, a captain of sixties radicals, an Abbie Hoffman type character who thrived on the notoriety of being a neverland inhabitant, shedding any thought of grieving up. From the perspective of young Freedom, though, life was often an episode of stop the world I want to get off. This was especially true after Lenny plants bombs and the Feds are out for him and his solution is to disappear. And, as life gets tough, Freedom and his mother find there are few that stick by them. What carries this novel is the force of the coming of age narrative voice and the endless anecdotes he shares.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
December 18, 2019
To preface, I really like the way Gus Van Sant made Last Days. He came right out and said, "although this film is inspired by the final days of Kurt Cobain, it is a work of fiction and should only be regarded as such." It's a way of writing something that tiptoes on the line of non-fiction and fiction.
The same can be said here. Furst did a great job of capturing the spirit of Lenny, whose real-life counterpart was Abbie Hoffman. For those who know nothing of Hoffman, and I'm not going to give you the full rundown, just remember back to Forrest Gump when he was giving his speech at the Washington Monument rally. Hoffman was a real man who was used fictitiously in that film. He brought Forrest to the stage and liked to drop his F-Bombs all over the crowd wearing an American Flag shirt.
In Revolutionaries, Furst drew from Hoffman's autobiographical "Steal This Book" and reworked the narrative from his son's point of view. He changed the names, of course, but anyone who's ever studied Abbie Hoffman will know from Page One that he's the man behind the curtain.
The first-person narrative and sharp syntax were expertly placed and gently used for a more authentic feel. Overall, a great read.
The same can be said here. Furst did a great job of capturing the spirit of Lenny, whose real-life counterpart was Abbie Hoffman. For those who know nothing of Hoffman, and I'm not going to give you the full rundown, just remember back to Forrest Gump when he was giving his speech at the Washington Monument rally. Hoffman was a real man who was used fictitiously in that film. He brought Forrest to the stage and liked to drop his F-Bombs all over the crowd wearing an American Flag shirt.
In Revolutionaries, Furst drew from Hoffman's autobiographical "Steal This Book" and reworked the narrative from his son's point of view. He changed the names, of course, but anyone who's ever studied Abbie Hoffman will know from Page One that he's the man behind the curtain.
The first-person narrative and sharp syntax were expertly placed and gently used for a more authentic feel. Overall, a great read.
May 27, 2019
AH, the ‘sixties, which lasted well into the ‘seventies. We’ve had to put up with a lot of crap fiction as the era has been reinvented –Rachel Kushner’s near pornographic The Flamethrowers and the gut bucket dreadful The Girls by Emma Cline. Along the way there was the light that Molly Dektar cast in The Ash Family. That novel was the absolute finest portrayal of that turbulent time.
But now, we must consider Joshua Furst’s Revolutionaries. Ostensibly the work is a looking back of Freedom (Fred), child of the upsetter Lenny Snyder. In two seconds one is aware that the real subject of the work is Abbie Hoffman. And a fine portrait it is of the man, his contemporaries and the times. Granted, we all know more in retrospect.
Furst bursts ahead valiantly, even if he shakes a few drops off on the way. His portrait of Phil Ochs is caustic and unrelenting. It is a cautionary tale built out of barbed wire and cheap wine. Of course Ochs, too was a failed visionary as were the folks who attended his concerts and bought his records. Who was to know? In fact the novel is probably as much about Ochs as it is about Hoffman.
On a negative note, the work is far too long, and the writing is at times clichéd. Whenever Furst seems to get stumped, he falls back on the epistolary form. There are also two scenes which are excruciating long and unneeded. One is when the narrator at seven years old or so is introduced by his father to weed. The scene reminds you of movie interpretations of bad trips. The second which is at the end of the novel occurs at the zoo with father and son with imaginary animals and imaginary popcorn.
However, the book is very good, but it could have been so much better. He gets all of the details right. The correct characters are in place. The locales are perfect. It makes you treasure your first edition of Steal This Book and display your Revolution for the Hell of It button with pride.
But now, we must consider Joshua Furst’s Revolutionaries. Ostensibly the work is a looking back of Freedom (Fred), child of the upsetter Lenny Snyder. In two seconds one is aware that the real subject of the work is Abbie Hoffman. And a fine portrait it is of the man, his contemporaries and the times. Granted, we all know more in retrospect.
Furst bursts ahead valiantly, even if he shakes a few drops off on the way. His portrait of Phil Ochs is caustic and unrelenting. It is a cautionary tale built out of barbed wire and cheap wine. Of course Ochs, too was a failed visionary as were the folks who attended his concerts and bought his records. Who was to know? In fact the novel is probably as much about Ochs as it is about Hoffman.
On a negative note, the work is far too long, and the writing is at times clichéd. Whenever Furst seems to get stumped, he falls back on the epistolary form. There are also two scenes which are excruciating long and unneeded. One is when the narrator at seven years old or so is introduced by his father to weed. The scene reminds you of movie interpretations of bad trips. The second which is at the end of the novel occurs at the zoo with father and son with imaginary animals and imaginary popcorn.
However, the book is very good, but it could have been so much better. He gets all of the details right. The correct characters are in place. The locales are perfect. It makes you treasure your first edition of Steal This Book and display your Revolution for the Hell of It button with pride.
April 16, 2019
As a Boomer and sort-of '60s/'70s activist, of course I loved reading nearly every adjective and anecdote of Joshua Furst’s new novel “Revolutionaries.”
But there are far too many adjective and anecdotes (also nouns and adverbs) in this outsize story of an outsize '60s radical named Lenny Snyder.
Furst tries to incorporate too much into Lenny’s persona: Lenny is (as I wrote in my review for the New York Journal of Books) “Bobby Kennedy, Kathy Boudin, and Abbie Hoffman all at the same time.”
The best part of this novel is the way Furst juggles the complex narrative structure, as Lenny’s adult son Freedom (or Fred) recalls the child-Fred’s view of those chaotic times.
Otherwise, you’re best off just reading random pages. You’ll get the passion, hope, and craziness of the antiwar movement; the bedraggled end of the Flower Children; the violence of the Weathermen; and most of the rest of those unique years.
But there are far too many adjective and anecdotes (also nouns and adverbs) in this outsize story of an outsize '60s radical named Lenny Snyder.
Furst tries to incorporate too much into Lenny’s persona: Lenny is (as I wrote in my review for the New York Journal of Books) “Bobby Kennedy, Kathy Boudin, and Abbie Hoffman all at the same time.”
The best part of this novel is the way Furst juggles the complex narrative structure, as Lenny’s adult son Freedom (or Fred) recalls the child-Fred’s view of those chaotic times.
Otherwise, you’re best off just reading random pages. You’ll get the passion, hope, and craziness of the antiwar movement; the bedraggled end of the Flower Children; the violence of the Weathermen; and most of the rest of those unique years.
May 10, 2019
I've read plenty of books about '60s radicals, both fiction and nonfiction. This was an intriguing novel because it asked the question, "What was it like for the children of those radicals?"
Fred (given name Freedom) is one of those kids, son of the notorious Lenny Snyder and his wife Suzy. He experiences neglect, abuse, abandonment, joy, anger, and yes, freedom. And a very odd expression of love from his parents. While it's obvious that his mother loves him, her strange dependence on Lenny is far from a positive role model.
He grows up to see his father, who goes underground, diminished and defeated. We don't get to learn much about Fred's adult life. This is mostly about him coming to terms with his parents and his extremely unconventional upbringing.
This wasn't uplifting, really. It was just kind of sad. But I did enjoy the read!
Fred (given name Freedom) is one of those kids, son of the notorious Lenny Snyder and his wife Suzy. He experiences neglect, abuse, abandonment, joy, anger, and yes, freedom. And a very odd expression of love from his parents. While it's obvious that his mother loves him, her strange dependence on Lenny is far from a positive role model.
He grows up to see his father, who goes underground, diminished and defeated. We don't get to learn much about Fred's adult life. This is mostly about him coming to terms with his parents and his extremely unconventional upbringing.
This wasn't uplifting, really. It was just kind of sad. But I did enjoy the read!
July 23, 2020
This second novel hinges on the narrator’s voice, and it’s an excellent voice as well as a fine way to impart the biography of a generally unappealing, but very lively character (the narrator’s father) who sparkled for a short time and then couldn’t find his footing. However, the parts of the novel where the father is out of the picture are missing something. The narrator’s mother is simply not as interesting a character most of the time.
This is a first-rate first-person narrative that has apparently been underappreciated.
This is a first-rate first-person narrative that has apparently been underappreciated.
January 12, 2020
Primer libro del año y primera reseña del año.
Estoy bastante contenta porque este libro es mi primera colaboración con "Babelio" y con la editoral "Impedimenta". Quiero agradecer a los dos la oportunidad que me han dado.
Revolucionarios nos trae la historia de Lenny Snyder, el cabeza de la revolución del movimiento hippie de los años 60-70. No me enteré hasta después, pero el personaje de Lenny está inspirado en Abbie Hoffman. Me ha parecido interesante leerme un libro que al final si tiene algo de veracidad en la historia.
Este no es el tipo de libro que suelo leer a menudo, pero me ha gustado poder hacerlo para salir de la zona de confort y leer algo completamente nuevo. El resultado ha sido muy bueno porque al final me ha gustado y ha sido una lectura muy amena. Le iba a dar una puntuación más baja, pero al ver el último giro del libro y sobretodo el final, ha hecho que cambiara de opinión y le diera una puntuación más alta.
El libro, evidentemente, trata sobre el movimiento hippie y de las revoluciones que este conlleva. De la lucha de las personas por conseguir la igualdad. Y bajo mi punto de vista ha sido muy interesante leer un libro pero desde el lado de los hippies, viendo sus pros, pero sobretodo sus contras. Ha sido una perspectiva muy interesante y he sentido un montón de emociones: enfado, alegría...frustracción...nunca había leído un libro desde esa perspectiva y me ha gustado mucho. Ha sido una gran experiencia.
Pero el libro también trata otros temas que me han gustado mucho: adicciones (ya sea de drogas o alcohol), amor, valores, enseñanzas, amistad, lealtad, el intento de amor entre un padre y un hijo, aceptación personal y sobretodas las cosas un sinfín de excesos.
De todas esas cosas me quedó con el intento de Freedy (Freedom) y Lenny de intentar conectar entre sí. Aunque el libro trata de otras cosas importante, bajo mi punto de vista creo que el tema principal es que tanto Lenny como Freddy intentaban conectar entre sí, hallar una especie de conexión, aceptación. Más por parte de Freedy que del propio Lenny. Y no os diré como acaba eso porque para eso tendréis que leeros el libro. Pero es profundo y te hace pensar en muchas cosas.
Los personajes en general me parecen muy bien construidos y como en toda novela, hay de todo tipo. No voy a explayarme en este punto demasiado, pero he de decir que si me tengo que quedar con alguien es con Freedom. Me ha gustado muchísimo ese personaje y he de decir que incluso en algunas coas me he sentido bastante identificada con él. Tan solo es un crío al que le ha tocado crecer en una sociedad y ambiente bastante crudo y que pese a todo solo quería encajar, ser aceptado por su padre. Tan solo buscaba que su padre se sintiera orgulloso de él, que le quisiera. Me parece (ya os digo que bajo mi criterio, por supuesto) que es el mejor personaje para mí de la novela.
Un personaje que me ha sorprendido para bien y que, vuelvo a decir que bajo mi punto de vista, es el que más ha evolucionado a lo largo de la novela es Suzy.
Admito que durante una gran parte de la novela se ganó mi antipatía porque no lograba a entender porque hacía ciertas cosas, pero por otro lado, no deja de ser una mujer de los 60-70, intentando aportar algo al movimiento, intentar pensar por sí misma, dando ideas que quizás estaban siendo demasiadas adelantadas para su época. Un intento quizás en esa epoca de ser feminista, pero que inevitablemente siempre estaba a la sombra de Lenny, al cuál, por cierto, le procesaba un profundo amor y lealtad.
De Suzy tengo que decir cosas muy positivas, porque sé que pese a esa personalidad tan particular, ella quiere a su hijo y lucha por el bienestar de todos. Y como he dicho al principio de la reseña me ha gustado mucho el último giro de la novela y la manera en que ella se da un alto así misma y abre los ojos. Me ha hecho quererla, adorarla y eso se lo tengo que agradecer al autor porque ha sabido camelarme en ese aspecto.
Otro personaje que me ha gustado bastante es Phil Och. He sentido mucha ternura y empatía hacia él. Para mí, la única persona que se ha preocupado por Freddy de verdad. No me ha gustado mucho como se ha desarrollado ese personaje, pero por otro lado me lo llevaba oliendo desde hace tiempo. Me hubiera gustado otro final para él.
Y luego tenemos a Lenny Snyder. Ufff, lo siento mucho pero he acabado aborreciendo a este personaje.
Por más que lo he intentado no he logrado conectar con él y mucho menos entender los motivos por los que hacía muchas de las cosas que ha hecho. Es verdad que en algunas situaciones he podido quizá entenderle un poquito, pero no me simpatiza, no me cae nada bien y mucho menos me da pena...ni siquiera al final. Sin intentar dar muchos spoilers me ha resultado ser un personaje muy egoísta, manipulador y un imbécil integral. Creo que sí dejase de mirar siempre a su propio ombligo, las cosas se habrían desarrollado de otra manera. Hay algo en su cabeza no que no está bien. Aunque he de reconocer que en ese aspecto el autor lo ha sabido desarrollar y enfocar bastante bien. Le aborrezco. Jamás pensé que podría odiar tanto a un personaje.
En general es un libro que me ha gustado. La narración es buena y no se te hace pesado en ningún momento.
Y el final me ha gustado mucho. Es bastante lógico y es real. No me esperaba este final y me ha sorprendido a base de bien.
Y ya poco más que decir. Si queréis leer algo diferente y está temática os interesa recomiendo este libro.
¿Qué tal lleváis vuestras lecturas de enero? Un beso a todos
Estoy bastante contenta porque este libro es mi primera colaboración con "Babelio" y con la editoral "Impedimenta". Quiero agradecer a los dos la oportunidad que me han dado.
Revolucionarios nos trae la historia de Lenny Snyder, el cabeza de la revolución del movimiento hippie de los años 60-70. No me enteré hasta después, pero el personaje de Lenny está inspirado en Abbie Hoffman. Me ha parecido interesante leerme un libro que al final si tiene algo de veracidad en la historia.
Este no es el tipo de libro que suelo leer a menudo, pero me ha gustado poder hacerlo para salir de la zona de confort y leer algo completamente nuevo. El resultado ha sido muy bueno porque al final me ha gustado y ha sido una lectura muy amena. Le iba a dar una puntuación más baja, pero al ver el último giro del libro y sobretodo el final, ha hecho que cambiara de opinión y le diera una puntuación más alta.
El libro, evidentemente, trata sobre el movimiento hippie y de las revoluciones que este conlleva. De la lucha de las personas por conseguir la igualdad. Y bajo mi punto de vista ha sido muy interesante leer un libro pero desde el lado de los hippies, viendo sus pros, pero sobretodo sus contras. Ha sido una perspectiva muy interesante y he sentido un montón de emociones: enfado, alegría...frustracción...nunca había leído un libro desde esa perspectiva y me ha gustado mucho. Ha sido una gran experiencia.
Pero el libro también trata otros temas que me han gustado mucho: adicciones (ya sea de drogas o alcohol), amor, valores, enseñanzas, amistad, lealtad, el intento de amor entre un padre y un hijo, aceptación personal y sobretodas las cosas un sinfín de excesos.
De todas esas cosas me quedó con el intento de Freedy (Freedom) y Lenny de intentar conectar entre sí. Aunque el libro trata de otras cosas importante, bajo mi punto de vista creo que el tema principal es que tanto Lenny como Freddy intentaban conectar entre sí, hallar una especie de conexión, aceptación. Más por parte de Freedy que del propio Lenny. Y no os diré como acaba eso porque para eso tendréis que leeros el libro. Pero es profundo y te hace pensar en muchas cosas.
Los personajes en general me parecen muy bien construidos y como en toda novela, hay de todo tipo. No voy a explayarme en este punto demasiado, pero he de decir que si me tengo que quedar con alguien es con Freedom. Me ha gustado muchísimo ese personaje y he de decir que incluso en algunas coas me he sentido bastante identificada con él. Tan solo es un crío al que le ha tocado crecer en una sociedad y ambiente bastante crudo y que pese a todo solo quería encajar, ser aceptado por su padre. Tan solo buscaba que su padre se sintiera orgulloso de él, que le quisiera. Me parece (ya os digo que bajo mi criterio, por supuesto) que es el mejor personaje para mí de la novela.
Un personaje que me ha sorprendido para bien y que, vuelvo a decir que bajo mi punto de vista, es el que más ha evolucionado a lo largo de la novela es Suzy.
Admito que durante una gran parte de la novela se ganó mi antipatía porque no lograba a entender porque hacía ciertas cosas, pero por otro lado, no deja de ser una mujer de los 60-70, intentando aportar algo al movimiento, intentar pensar por sí misma, dando ideas que quizás estaban siendo demasiadas adelantadas para su época. Un intento quizás en esa epoca de ser feminista, pero que inevitablemente siempre estaba a la sombra de Lenny, al cuál, por cierto, le procesaba un profundo amor y lealtad.
De Suzy tengo que decir cosas muy positivas, porque sé que pese a esa personalidad tan particular, ella quiere a su hijo y lucha por el bienestar de todos. Y como he dicho al principio de la reseña me ha gustado mucho el último giro de la novela y la manera en que ella se da un alto así misma y abre los ojos. Me ha hecho quererla, adorarla y eso se lo tengo que agradecer al autor porque ha sabido camelarme en ese aspecto.
Otro personaje que me ha gustado bastante es Phil Och. He sentido mucha ternura y empatía hacia él. Para mí, la única persona que se ha preocupado por Freddy de verdad. No me ha gustado mucho como se ha desarrollado ese personaje, pero por otro lado me lo llevaba oliendo desde hace tiempo. Me hubiera gustado otro final para él.
Y luego tenemos a Lenny Snyder. Ufff, lo siento mucho pero he acabado aborreciendo a este personaje.
Por más que lo he intentado no he logrado conectar con él y mucho menos entender los motivos por los que hacía muchas de las cosas que ha hecho. Es verdad que en algunas situaciones he podido quizá entenderle un poquito, pero no me simpatiza, no me cae nada bien y mucho menos me da pena...ni siquiera al final. Sin intentar dar muchos spoilers me ha resultado ser un personaje muy egoísta, manipulador y un imbécil integral. Creo que sí dejase de mirar siempre a su propio ombligo, las cosas se habrían desarrollado de otra manera. Hay algo en su cabeza no que no está bien. Aunque he de reconocer que en ese aspecto el autor lo ha sabido desarrollar y enfocar bastante bien. Le aborrezco. Jamás pensé que podría odiar tanto a un personaje.
En general es un libro que me ha gustado. La narración es buena y no se te hace pesado en ningún momento.
Y el final me ha gustado mucho. Es bastante lógico y es real. No me esperaba este final y me ha sorprendido a base de bien.
Y ya poco más que decir. Si queréis leer algo diferente y está temática os interesa recomiendo este libro.
¿Qué tal lleváis vuestras lecturas de enero? Un beso a todos
December 22, 2018
Brilliant book about a ‘60’s radical, told by his only son. Amazing story about what happens behind the scenes at home with a charismatic political agitator when he’s not leading marches, protests and pranks. A wonderful story about very complicated people.
November 5, 2021
I really liked this book about a fictional version of Abbie Hoffman named Lenny Snyder - as told by his son. What a great premise. I settled on a solid 4 stars, though I considered giving it 5 stars. I have lots of thoughts. Here they are:
1. Lenny Snyder is a fictionalized version of Abbie Hoffman, but it is a straight-up Abbie Hoffman - not an amalgamation of revolutionary hippies or anything. Steal This Book is called "Burn It, Break It, Steal It" here. Though Abbie is a bit before my time, I'm pretty familiar with him and his writings. I'm not sure how the book would read if you had no idea who he was.
2. Some people had their real names used and others didn't. Abbie and his family, Jerry Rubin, and Ram Dass (I think) all had fake names, but William Kunstler, Tom Hayden, and Phil Ochs kept their real name. I thought the William Kunstler keeping the name made sense. I read his autobiography decades ago and thought his role as the publicity hound lawyer was perfect. Phil Ochs, on the other hand, seemed too much to use his real name. I was not familiar with Ochs until I read this book, but he is an important character and often portrayed quite unflattering. It just seemed like a weird choice.
3. I thought this book was most unkind to Abbie Hoffman (Lenny Snyder). Maybe the author did research and this was supported by facts. Maybe the author just made it up to tell his story. Maybe the point was that parents are always faulted by their children. I'm not sure, but in any case, I thought it was a bit harsh. I've always been a fan of Abbie so maybe I didn't always jive with this character being such a jerk.
4. This book was about a lot of things to me. It was about what happens to a movement and it's leaders when it's over - either thru victory or defeat. About the casualties of the movement and the slide into irrelevance. In this respect, it reminded me in many ways of Growing Up At Thirty Seven and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was also a coming of age story and as a parent, I read it as parents often trying their best, but not always being able to be or give what your child needs.
I enjoyed this book and found it thoughtful and poignant. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to people with an interest or familiarity with the life of Abbie Hoffman.
1. Lenny Snyder is a fictionalized version of Abbie Hoffman, but it is a straight-up Abbie Hoffman - not an amalgamation of revolutionary hippies or anything. Steal This Book is called "Burn It, Break It, Steal It" here. Though Abbie is a bit before my time, I'm pretty familiar with him and his writings. I'm not sure how the book would read if you had no idea who he was.
2. Some people had their real names used and others didn't. Abbie and his family, Jerry Rubin, and Ram Dass (I think) all had fake names, but William Kunstler, Tom Hayden, and Phil Ochs kept their real name. I thought the William Kunstler keeping the name made sense. I read his autobiography decades ago and thought his role as the publicity hound lawyer was perfect. Phil Ochs, on the other hand, seemed too much to use his real name. I was not familiar with Ochs until I read this book, but he is an important character and often portrayed quite unflattering. It just seemed like a weird choice.
3. I thought this book was most unkind to Abbie Hoffman (Lenny Snyder). Maybe the author did research and this was supported by facts. Maybe the author just made it up to tell his story. Maybe the point was that parents are always faulted by their children. I'm not sure, but in any case, I thought it was a bit harsh. I've always been a fan of Abbie so maybe I didn't always jive with this character being such a jerk.
4. This book was about a lot of things to me. It was about what happens to a movement and it's leaders when it's over - either thru victory or defeat. About the casualties of the movement and the slide into irrelevance. In this respect, it reminded me in many ways of Growing Up At Thirty Seven and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It was also a coming of age story and as a parent, I read it as parents often trying their best, but not always being able to be or give what your child needs.
I enjoyed this book and found it thoughtful and poignant. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to people with an interest or familiarity with the life of Abbie Hoffman.
October 17, 2024
This is a fictionalized version of the life and times of a fictionalized version of Abbie Hoffman. The story is told to us through the point of view of his neglected and disillusioned son. So this is really a story about the disintegration and failure of the radical movements of the 1960s. Several real life celebrities of the era appear; Bobby Seale, Allen Ginsberg, and most important to the story, Phil Ochs, whose self-destruction Furst suggests is the result of a fatal lack of cynicism. Furst's narrator explains a bit in this passage.
Inevitably everything breaks down. Solidarity gives way to isolation and suspicion as splintered interests prefer to seek power rather than equality. Ultimately power can only be gained through selfishness. And only the selfish survive.
It's a fatalistic view of things, to be sure. But, like The Impeachers, it's a book to consider as echoes of the era it describes manifest in our present politics. I'm not entirely sure Furst understands this, however. In the acknowledgements, he says of Hoffman, “We need your spirit in the world more than ever.” Do we? Everything in this book suggests perhaps not.
The problem with causes, though, is that they derive their meaning from what they achieve. The foot soldiers, those people whose aggregate passion fuels the change, might find satisfaction -- or regret -- after the fact in the roles they played affecting this change, but they'd be wise to beware building their identities around the communal spirit in which the cause thrives. They might find themselves trapped, alone, in a movement that's vanished, wondering where everyone else has gone. Some people recognize this danger from the start. They ride the spirit of the age for all it's worth, taking what they can for their own gain. And by the time everybody else realizes it's over, they're already done and gone.
Inevitably everything breaks down. Solidarity gives way to isolation and suspicion as splintered interests prefer to seek power rather than equality. Ultimately power can only be gained through selfishness. And only the selfish survive.
It's a fatalistic view of things, to be sure. But, like The Impeachers, it's a book to consider as echoes of the era it describes manifest in our present politics. I'm not entirely sure Furst understands this, however. In the acknowledgements, he says of Hoffman, “We need your spirit in the world more than ever.” Do we? Everything in this book suggests perhaps not.
June 6, 2019
I could identify with and relate to many of the characters (real and imagined), places (especially New York City), and events (antiwar demonstrations and various public acts of Yippie rebellion and defiance) portrayed in this historical fiction from America’s 1960s and ‘70s based on the life of the radical anarchical left leader and organizer Abbie Hoffman (Lenny Snyder in the novel). Lenny’s now adult son Freedom tells of his parents’ lives first at the center of attention as the mid-‘60s’ movements gathered steam and later, after the music stopped, of squalid desperation, with Lenny’s generally unpleasant personality and behavior dominating everyone and everything around him, even in his later absence. Son Freedom is, as the narrator, also always at the center of things, which I found problematic as he recounts his family’s lives and surroundings and the general goings-on around them as if he clearly remembers every act of his own behavior and of others from his early infancy on. Much of the portrayal of the times is spot on, both the heady times of the mid-‘60s and the down times after the far left’s failures by decade’s end and into the ‘70s (which may account for some of the high Goodreads ratings), and probably the Snyder character as Hoffman is too, but this narrative issue and the novel’s husband-wife, father-son family angles didn’t really work for me, so I didn’t particularly take to it as a whole. There is some good writing, though, and it captures a slice of the times well.
May 13, 2019
I really enjoyed this book because it tells a wonderful story. It is a fictional biography of Abbie Hoffman as Lenny Snyder, as told by his son, Freedom. Of course it is also the story of the East Village in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Freedom had a difficult childhood being raised by two activists, Lenny and Suzy. Real people are sometimes given other names which is the case for Jerry Rubin who becomes Sy Neumann. But others are called by their real names. Phil Ochs plays a big role in Freedom’s life when Lenny goes underground. William Kunstler is the consigliere of the Left, and Tom Hayden adapts to the California Democratic Party. The relationship of Freedom with his father is a strained one. In the aftermath of the 60’s, some people were able to move on, and others were not. Lenny and Phil were not able to leave their principles behind and became very unhappy in Ronald Reagan’s America. The book is very well researched and conveys the feeling of the times and for that I am grateful. The author, Joshua Furst is from another generation, but you can feel his sympathies for the movement and the leaders who participated in it. I was there and can only say that it captures the many forces that came together during that wonderful and disturbing time. All Power to the People! It still sums it up perfectly.
September 20, 2025
ATTENTION GR: The summary you posted for this book confuses Eric Hobsbawn's historical analysis of Sixties militants with Joshua Furst's novel of the same name! Totally different scene, totally. But, to proceed. Hobsbawn, with his usual gaze across centuries and continents focuses in on the year 1969, which to a Marxist like himself presented a paradox. The Vietnamese revolution had already triumphed, the Americans had been defeated and the Nixon administration was doing the paperwork, bloody to be sure, to exit from Indochina while saving face. But, over in South America, what Hobsbawn terms "the years of the guerrilla dream" were finished. Every Castro-inspired rebellion on the continent from Venezuela and the ARMED FORCES OF NATIONAL LIBERATION (FALN) to the last remnants of Che Guevara's ragtag army in Bolivia had died on the vine. Why the two outcomes? Hobsbawn sees the North Vietnamese and Vietcong tapping into centuries, or what North Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Dong called "one thousand years" of resistance to foreign rule, while the Cuban revolution of 1959 inspired only pale imitators riding the wave of a historical event without roots in their own countries. Revolutionaries dare risk the wrath of history only at their own fault, and in the case of Guevara, his death.
July 21, 2019
It's curious how the 1960's are being portrayed 50 years on and not always nostalgically. This reminds me of Roth's American Pastoral but less poetic, obviously. I thought Abbie Hoffman was a smart and clever 'revolutionary' and find this story based on Hoffman confusing, an uncertain blend of fact and fiction. I had the same reservations regarding its portrayal of Phil Ochs. Do I need to know whether the main character, a boy named "Freedom", is based on any facts about the raising of Hoffman's own son named 'America'?
I thought the book took advantage of real lives to make an ambivalent case for the naivete, dangers and contradictions of the 1960's. Still, it's nicely written though I never found myself emotionally caught up in the story. The narration doesn't feel like that of a kid growing up in a negligent household of wannabe revolutionaries.
I read Revolutionaries back to back with 'Member of the Family' about growing up with the Manson cult. As an optimistic and committed child of the 60's who has lived by the best of the era's progressive values, I guess I need a few doses of pessimism to keep it real.
I thought the book took advantage of real lives to make an ambivalent case for the naivete, dangers and contradictions of the 1960's. Still, it's nicely written though I never found myself emotionally caught up in the story. The narration doesn't feel like that of a kid growing up in a negligent household of wannabe revolutionaries.
I read Revolutionaries back to back with 'Member of the Family' about growing up with the Manson cult. As an optimistic and committed child of the 60's who has lived by the best of the era's progressive values, I guess I need a few doses of pessimism to keep it real.
July 8, 2019
Mark Furst has written a fictionalized account of the life of Abbie Hoffmann. Abbie is called Lenny Snyder and the book is narrated by Lenny's grown son Freedom/Fred Snyder. Furst does a a good job of catching the manic energy of the late 1960's and early 1970's a time which in my opinion the American people were even more divided than the are today. Lenny is a great character but he goes on the run from the authorities about half way through the book and from there the novel becomes listless.
I was never really sold on the ability of a 6-8 year o;d little boy to remember things that happened 30-40 years ago with such uncanny perception. The book is even handed in portraying the mercurial main character who captured the tenor of the times while being a relentless egomaniac and bad parent to boot.
More a great history lesson of an interesting time than a character study. I was a kid in my early teens during the height of all the late 60's craziness it was fun remembering those wild times.
I was never really sold on the ability of a 6-8 year o;d little boy to remember things that happened 30-40 years ago with such uncanny perception. The book is even handed in portraying the mercurial main character who captured the tenor of the times while being a relentless egomaniac and bad parent to boot.
More a great history lesson of an interesting time than a character study. I was a kid in my early teens during the height of all the late 60's craziness it was fun remembering those wild times.
September 1, 2019
If you remember the 60's and early 70's and were an activist or political you will love this story. Told from the son of an Abbie Hoffman like character as he chronicles his life starting at about age 5 to 20 with a father and mother who were in love with revolution and changing the world. But, mainly the father was the version of the man at the center, the hero of the cause while the mom and other women stood in the shadow, raised the kids and keep things together. It is about child neglect and abuse, loneliness, and despair while you wonder what life is all about anyway. The dad gets busted and then goes underground where he finds another woman and gets married a second time- he becomes very sad at the end as his life spirals nowhere but down from the peak of his notoriety and success in the early days. Read in a few days as very engaging.
September 8, 2019
Joshua Furst's Revolutionaries, his follow up to his charged first novel, The Sabatoge Cafe, is spiraling portrait of the end of an era that leaves us wondering, as it has for its narrator, where we can go without those Hoffmans and Rubins and Kings and who inspire and lead but have all-too human weaknesses. We pass through in the confessional intimacy of our narrator, the demagogue's son, whose search for love and acceptance from his father, and it's failure is a foregone conclusion. Distance and cruelty keep father and son at bay, and yet such simple torque doesn't explain much of what drives the pining and longing, or why Lenny Snyder is such a fascinating character. Beautiful and painful, this is a novel that doesn't trust the sainthood of charismatic leaders, as much as it seems to, like the narrator, long for their return to the stage.
November 22, 2019
They strove to do something great, something meaningful, but, objectively, the results were a disaster. That loosely describes the main characters in two recent novels: “Revolutionaries” by Joshua Furst (Alfred A. Knopf) and “Donna Has Left the Building” by Susan Jane Gilman (Grand Central Publishing). However, the novelists approach their characters’ lives from very different viewpoints. In “Revolutionaries,” Freedom (Fred) Snyder tells the story of his famous 1960s radical parent, Lenny Snyder, while, in contemporary times, Gilman’s narrator, Donna (Cohen) Koczynski, looks to regain the joy of her wilder younger years.
See the rest of my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...
See the rest of my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...
November 16, 2021
Fascinating, well written, but for me, almost too painful to read. The book focuses on the family life, if you can call it that, of an Abbie Hoffman-like character. His girlfriend, child, and close friend endure such misery to support his revolutionary ideals--or is it just to support his snotty egotism?
I don't know what the real Hoffman was like, but the gaslighting, exploitation, and manipulation of women and kids by "revolutionary" men, as described vividly in this book, certainly was a part of hippie culture.
It's amazing how well Joshua Furst captures the feel of the era, since he must have been just a baby during that time. In that way this novel reminds me of "The Girls" by Emma Cline and "Arcadia" by Lauren Groff (both highly recommended).
I don't know what the real Hoffman was like, but the gaslighting, exploitation, and manipulation of women and kids by "revolutionary" men, as described vividly in this book, certainly was a part of hippie culture.
It's amazing how well Joshua Furst captures the feel of the era, since he must have been just a baby during that time. In that way this novel reminds me of "The Girls" by Emma Cline and "Arcadia" by Lauren Groff (both highly recommended).
August 24, 2019
A family saga narrated from the point of view of the 50 something years old of Lenny Snyder, Freedom Snyder, from his memories of the '70s, when he was in his puberty. So the narration is maybe somewaht unreliable, smokey and uncertain as smokey and uncertain are the '70s, an era that destroyed in some ways the coloured and naive revolutionary dreams of the late '60s and marks a privilegied viewpoint to understand today's counterculturals movements. There are some hystorical figures, as a wonderfully rendered Phil Ochs, some references to the culture of the era and some other part a little bit contrived (as the arrest for drug of Lenny Snyder), but overall is a pretty funny read.
July 30, 2020
This fit into the category of books I admired but did not particularly enjoy reading. I found it well written and clearly the author did a lot of research for the book but I just was not as interested in the story as I expected to be. I thought there would be more about the movement Abbie Hoffman was involved with and its effects on culture rather than the very intimate details of his personal life.
I felt bad for all the son went through, though I have no idea if all of this was true to life or not.
I felt bad for all the son went through, though I have no idea if all of this was true to life or not.
July 6, 2019
Some books can be summed up in a sentence from the book. Here is that sentence:
Yet another quester who, after years of chasing the dove of peace through the dense marijuana haze of her wasted youth, had finally realized she'd never change the world.
The story of a child of a "revolutionary" father (yes, think Abbie Hoffman) and how it affected him.
I think the story is sadly very accurate, but I really don't need to be reminded of those assholes.
Yet another quester who, after years of chasing the dove of peace through the dense marijuana haze of her wasted youth, had finally realized she'd never change the world.
The story of a child of a "revolutionary" father (yes, think Abbie Hoffman) and how it affected him.
I think the story is sadly very accurate, but I really don't need to be reminded of those assholes.
June 6, 2019
This is just not MY book. And 60s just not my historical period. I wasn’t able to connect with any character in there. To sympathize. To hate. Any strong emotion.
If it wasn’t for a book club I am in, I won’t even go more then 20 pages.
The only interesting part for me was some NYC history of the time. So, here are 2 stars for that.
If it wasn’t for a book club I am in, I won’t even go more then 20 pages.
The only interesting part for me was some NYC history of the time. So, here are 2 stars for that.
August 24, 2019
Nothing was ever black and white, despite the idealism. And what followed when the music stopped. Was it a performance, or reality, and does it matter? Family matters? or the movement to Free the People? ( in the zoo? ) The NYC of that time is a character itself. Missing any of SF Flowers in Your Hair tinge . Cool book.
May 2, 2020
A novel where the narrator talks about his life as a child of 1960's revolutionaries who fail as revolutionaries and parents and whose life gets even worse when his father is arrested in a drug bust and goes into hiding. It's a gripping story and at the end, you wonder how did the narrator survive all that happened to him.
May 28, 2021
Not so good....sorry
I was there and I have no clue why this guy wrote this book or what he was trying to say.
Reading this book for someone like me who was an activist then, went to prison as a result, and remained at it the rest of my life was like looking at that time through a heavy fog on Valium.....
I was there and I have no clue why this guy wrote this book or what he was trying to say.
Reading this book for someone like me who was an activist then, went to prison as a result, and remained at it the rest of my life was like looking at that time through a heavy fog on Valium.....
May 25, 2019
Revolution, sixties-style, as seen through the eyes of the beleaguered son if a famous activist. Not much good to be said of that cultural era: you drop back in and you are weak, you spiral ever-downward as you stick relentlessly to the creed and you are a loser.
June 15, 2024
The topic was super interesting, but the writing style was just kind of annoying. Super cynical, and hardly any good dialogue. Also feels like one long enumeration at some point. Maybe it's not for me.
May 8, 2020
co za koszmarek
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