THE ELOQUENCE OF PROTEST: Voices of the '70's

by Harrison -- Ed. Salisbury ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 1972

An ecumenical selection of short pieces appearing in the New York Times over the past couple of years. Under ""America"" there is the underground left (Daniel Berrigan, Bernardine Dohrn explaining the Weathermen's ""military error""); the right (""A Doctor's Letter to His Son"" advises the son that if he becomes a revolutionary he deserves to get shot, Ernest van den Haag takes a low-keyed potshot at social breakdown); plus personalized, moderate notes on ecology, armaments, etc. The issues of the free press, maimed ethics, feminism, gay liberation, the youth culture, and drugs are represented by such articles as Merle Miller's ""What It Means to Be a Homosexual"" and John Lennon's ""The Dream Is Over."" The next section covers ""The World."" A Saigon prisoner, Solzhenitsyn, a Soviet emigrant to Israel, a Greek terrorist, Bernadette Devlin, the father of a Kent State victim, three Black Panthers and a George Jackson letter to Angela Davis exemplify the documentary selection; there are also commentaries by Kenneth Keniston on the counterculture, Tom Wicker on the Attica massacre, etc. The section on Vietnam includes Aubrey Daniel's letter to Nixon rebuking the President for his stand on the Calley case. Herbert Marcuse claims that the ""massive rush"" of the ""silent majority"" to support Calley proves that they are all fascists. The self-obituary of a West Point gentleman-officer is followed by the Senate testimony of a spokesman for anti-war veterans. A good distillation of epiphenomena and self-expressions, and a worthy reference source.

Pub Date: Aug. 25, 1972

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1972

Categories: NONFICTION