Books

So, this post is for intellectuals : list of books and publications related to the hippie subculture. Of course it is only a small part of great amount of hippie literature, but at least we tried to gather books which are in public domain, so if you like a description and want to read a book from the list, just click on its title.

1) On the Road

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:OnTheRoad.jpg

On the Road is a novel by American writer Jack Kerouac. On the Road is based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across America. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat Generation (forerunner to the hippie movement)with its protagonists living life against a backdrop of jazz, poetry, and drug use.
When the book was originally released, The New York Times hailed it as "the most beautifully executed, the clearest and the most important utterance yet made by the generation Kerouac himself named years ago as 'beat,' and whose principal avatar he is." In 1998, the Modern Library ranked On the Road 55th on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. The novel was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. 

The main ideas of the Beat Generation, the longing for belief and meaning in life, are reflected in On the Road . Kerouac has admitted that the biggest of these themes is religion. All of the travel and personal interaction in the book permit an examination of the ideas of masculinity and mobility in the 1950s. While these concepts may seem unrelated, Kerouac weaves them together to provide another form of rebellion against the social norm of conformity.

On the Road has been a major influence on many poets, writers, actors and musicians, including Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Jim Morrison, Hunter S. Thompson, and many more.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Road)

2)The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KoolAid_1stUSEd_front.jpg

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test was written by Tom Wolfe in 1968.Wolfe presents a first hand account of the experiences of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters. Wolfe traveled across the country with the Pranksters in their day-glo painted school bus named "Furthur". Kesey and Pranksters became famous for their use of LSD and other psychedelic drugs in hopes of achieving intersubjectivity. The book chronicles the Acid Tests (Parties in which LSD laced Kool-Aid was used to obtain a communal trip), the groups experiences with famous groups and individuals, including famous authors, Hell's Angels, The Grateful Dead, and it also describes Kesey's exile to Mexico and his arrests.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test is remembered as an accurate and “essential” book depicting the roots and growth of the hippie movement. Additionally, the book is remembered because of its usage of New Journalism techniques. The book was widely read and attitudes towards its themes were polarized. Some saw the book as a testament to the downfall of American youth, while others read the book as gospel, seeing Kesey as a sort of Christ figure.
^{(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Electric_Kool-Aid_Acid_Test)}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Psychedelic_Experience.jpg

3)The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based On The Tibetan Book Of The Dead
The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead (commonly referred to as The Psychedelic Experience) is an instruction manual intended for use during sessions involving psychedelic drugs. Started as early as 1962 in Zihuatanejo, the book was finally published in August 1964. This version of Tibetan Book of the Dead was authored by Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert, all of whom took part in experiments investigating the therapeutic and religious possibilities of drugs such as mescaline, psilocybin and LSD. The book is dedicated to Aldous Huxley and includes a short introductory citation from Huxley's book The Doors of Perception. Part of this text was used by the Beatles in the song Tomorrow Never Knows.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Psychedelic_Experience)

4)The Doors of Perception 
The Doors of Perception is a 1954 book by Aldous Huxley detailing his experiences when taking mescaline. The book takes the form of Huxley's recollection of a mescaline trip that took place over the course of an afternoon, and takes its title from a phrase in William Blake's poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Huxley recalls the insights he experienced, which range from the "purely aesthetic" to "sacramental vision". He also incorporates later reflections on the experience and its meaning for art and religion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DoorsofPerception.jpg

A variety of influences have been claimed for the book. The psychedelic proselytiser, Timothy Leary, was given the book by a colleague soon after returning from Mexico where he had first taken psilocybin mushrooms in the summer of 1960. He found that The Doors of Perception corroborated what he had experienced 'and more too'. Leary soon set up a meeting with Huxley and the two became friendly. The book can also be seen as a part of the history of entheogenic model of understanding these drugs, that sees them within a spiritual context. Looking to broader culture, Huxley's experiment can be seen, alongside the work of other artists such as John Cage and Jackson Pollock, as proposing a model of the imagination opposite to the symbolic, representational structures that had governed Western thought for centuries. Although this new direction cannot be attributed entirely to mescaline or Huxley, it had made a strong impact on politics, art and religion.
This book was the influence behind Jim Morrison's naming his band The Doors in 1965.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doors_of_Perception)

5)Steal This Book
Steal This Book is a book written by Abbie Hoffman. Written in 1970 and published in 1971, the book exemplified the counter-culture of the sixties.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Abbie_hoffman_steal_this_book.jpg

The book, in the style of the counter-culture, mainly focused on ways to fight the government, and against corporations in any way possible. The book is written in the form of a guide to the youth. Hoffman, a political and social activist himself, used many of his own activities as the inspiration for some of his advice in Steal This Book.
Steal this Book is broken up into three sections, "Survive!", "Fight!" and "Liberate!". Each section has several sub-chapters each pertaining to its section.
The section "Survive!" is about getting "free" things and as its title indicates, surviving. It includes chapters on how to acquire food, clothing, furniture, transportation, land, housing, education, medical care, communication, entertainment, money, dope, and other assorted items and services. The section "Fight!" is about the counter-culture imperative of rebelling against the government and corporations. It includes chapters on starting an underground press, guerrilla radio, guerrilla television, what to bring to a demonstration that’s expected to be violent, how to make an assortment of home-made bombs, first aid for street fighters, legal advice, how to seek political asylum, shoplifting techniques, stealing credit cards, guerrilla warfare, gun laws, and identification papers. This section also includes advice on such topics as growing cannabis, living in a commune, and obtaining a free buffalo from the Department of the Interior. It discusses various tactics of fighting as well as giving a detailed list of affordable and easy ways to find weapons and armor that can be used in a confrontation with law enforcement. The section advocates rebelling against authority in all forms, governmental and corporate. The third section is "Liberate!" with the chapter headings: Fuck New York, Fuck Chicago, Fuck Los Angeles, and Fuck San Francisco. The book also includes an appendix that lists "approved" organizations and other books worth stealing.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steal_this_book)

6)LSD — My Problem Child

http://www.psychedelic-library.org/child.htm

LSD - My Problem Child  is the story of LSD told by a concerned yet hopeful father, organic chemist Albert Hofmann. He traces LSD's path from a promising psychiatric research medicine to a recreational drug sparking hysteria and prohibition.

We follow Dr. Hofmann's trek across Mexico to discover sacred plants related to LSD, and listen in as he corresponds with other notable figures about his remarkable discovery.
Underlying it all is Dr. Hofmann's powerful conclusion that mystical experience may be our planet's best hope for survival. Whether induced by LSD, meditation, or arising spontaneously, such experiences help us to comprehend "the wonder, the mystery of the divine‹in the microcosm of the atom, in the macrocosm of the spiral nebula, in the seeds of plants, in the body and soul of people."
More than sixty years after the birth of Albert Hofmann's problem child, his vision of its true potential is more relevant, and more needed, than ever.
(http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8791.LSD)


7) Hippies from A to Z

http://www.amazon.com/Hippies-From-Impact-Sixties-Present/dp/1930258011

Hippies From A to Z is an overview of the personalities and events of the Hippy Movement, how they influenced the course of history and transformed American society. The first part of the book contains a general discussion of the impact of hippies upon society including the major achievements of the Hippie
Movement. The second part is a reference work covering the details. The book includes chapters on: Philosophy, Activism, Sex & Love, Drugs, Music, Fashions & Lifestyle, Old Hippies, Young Hippies, a Hippie Timeline, Landmark Events, Famous Hippies and an extensive Glossary. Hippies From A to Z answers all those questions about hippies, their philosophy and lifestyle including who did what, when and why.
(http://www.amazon.com/Hippies-From-Impact-Sixties-Present/dp/1930258011)