The Highway is for Gamblers: A Political Memoir

by Tom O'Lincoln

239 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Tom O'Lincoln (August 27, 1947 − October 12, 2023) was an American Marxist historian, author and one of the founders of the International Socialist Tendency in Australia.

Reviews

[Ravi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A moving memoir of a working class American-Australian activist associated with the tradition of third camp socialism from below, the book, which gets its title from a Dylan song, is a delight to read from start to finish and includes many photographs from the author's extensive travels and reproductions of his writings in the radical press. Unlike many other such books of the genre, the text does not beat you over the stick with the author's politics. O'Lincoln, now living with Parkinson's, had the good fortune to visit Portugal during the Carnation Revolution in the 1970s, Indonesia, Germany, the Philippines and many other places. He also studied in Berkeley at the height of the Free Speech Movement. One does not have to agree with the author's substantive politics to enjoy what truly was a life well lived. The author makes wise choices including going over very lightly the organizational splits in the socialist groups he supported. It is also truly a joy that he is willing to discuss his parental background and his upbringing in California in the 1950s. The aesthetic oversize production qualities enhance the reading experience. For anyone interested in a remarkable life of a learned worker-scholar, this is the book for you. Make it a priority to read in 2019.