Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost Its Mind and Found Its Soul

(Paperback)

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A captivating debut novel for readers of Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You and Curtis Sittenfeld's Prep-The Most Dangerous Place on Earth unleashes an unforgettable cast of characters into a realm known for its cruelty and peril- the American high school. In an idyllic community of wealthy California families, new teacher Molly Nicoll becomes intrigued by the hidden lives of her privileged students. Unknown to Molly, a middle school tragedy in which they were all complicit continues to reverberate for "her" kids- Nick, the brilliant scam artist; Emma, the gifted dancer and party girl; Dave, the B student who strives to meet his parents' expectations; Calista, the hippie outcast who hides her intelligence for reasons of her own. Theirs is a world in which every action may become public-postable, shareable, indelible. With the rare talent that transforms teenage dramas into compelling and urgent fiction, Lindsey Lee Johnson makes vivid a modern adolescence lived in the gleam of the virtual, but rich with the sorrow, passion, and beauty of life in any time, and at any age. Advance praise for The Most Dangerous Place on Earth "In sharp and assured prose, roving between characters, Lindsey Lee Johnson plumbs the terrifying depths of a half-dozen ultra-privileged California high school kids. I read it in two chilling gulps. It's a phenomenal first book, a compassionate Less Than Zero for the digital age."-Anthony Doerr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Light We Cannot See "An astonishing debut novel, Lindsey Lee Johnson's The Most Dangerous Place on Earth plunges the reader into the fraught power dynamics between (and among) high school teachers and students with both nuance and fearlessness. With a stunning constellation of characters' voices and a fiercely compelling story, it's impossible to put down, or to forget."-Megan Abbott, author of You Will Know Me and Dare Me "The Most Dangerous Place on Earth is a deftly composed mosaic of adolescence in the modern age, frightening and compelling in its honesty. . . . A terrific debut, and one that I didn't want to put down."-Julia Pierpont, New York Times bestselling author of Among the Ten Thousand Things "In her superb first novel, The Most Dangerous Place on Earth, Lindsey Lee Johnson deftly illuminates a certain strain of privileged American adolescence and the existential minefield these kids are forced to navigate. Elegantly constructed and beautifully written, it reads like Jane Austen for this anxious era."-Seth Greenland, author of I Regret Everything and The Angry Buddhist From the Hardcover edition.

Reviews

In her excellent oral history of the tumultuous events of 1969 and 1970, . . . [Clara Bingham] does a fine job conjuring the sense of a looming apocalypse. . . . Its surprising to be reminded how many of the decades signature events occurred in a single year. Woodstock. The trial of the Chicago Eight. The My Lai massacre. The first efforts to publish the Pentagon Papers. Altamont. The rise of the Weather Underground. The invasion of Cambodia. Kent State. The bombing of the Army Math Research Center in Madison, Wis. Witness to the Revolution offers an impressive list of actual witnesses to these events and more, including some sharp contextual asides explaining the rise of the antiwar movement and the fallout from its messy end. . . . Especially for younger generations who didnt live through it, Witness to the Revolution is a valuable and entertaining primer on a moment in American history the likes of which we may never see again.Bryan Burrough, The Wall Street Journal

A gripping oral history of the centrifugal social forces tearing America apart at the end of the 60s . . . This is rousing reportage from the front lines of US history.O: The Oprah Magazine

[One of the] best paperbacks of 2017 so far . . . The book is a rich tapestry of a volatile period in American history.Time

[An] Enthralling and brilliant chronology of the period between August 1969 and September 1970.Buffalo News

The familiar voices and the unfamiliar ones are woven together with documents to make this a surprisingly powerful and moving book.New York Times Book Review

[Bingham] captures the essence of these fourteen months through the words of movement organizers, vets, students, draft resisters, journalists, musicians, government agents, writers, and others. . . . This oral history will enable readers to see that era in a new light and with fresh sympathy for the motivations of those involved. While Binghams is one of many retrospective looks at that period, it is one of the most immediate and personal.Booklist

An engrossing oral history of the youth rebellion of the 1960s . . . [A] remarkable account of the anti-war movement . . . There are revealing stories about Weathermen on the lam, government sabotage and surveillance, courtroom theatrics, police riots, President Richard Nixons late-night meeting with protesters at the Lincoln Memorial, the Pentagon Papers, and the incessant organizing behind events that would profoundly and permanently change the nation. The cast is a whos who of the 60s: Daniel Ellsberg, Jane Fonda, Julius Lester, and others, from undercover FBI agents to rock musicians, most of whom offer sharp insights into the period. . . . People like Bingham (b. 1963), who missed the party, may be astonished by aspects of this tumultuous story. Baby boomers will find themselves infuriated once again by vivid accounts of the My Lai massacre, the Kent State and Jackson State shootings, and other tumultuous events.Kirkus Reviews

Witness to the Revolution is vivid, compelling, and addictively readable. Clara Binghamhas captured the lightning of the 1960s in a jar, where it blows the readers socks off. Whether you lived through this period or want to know what you missed, this is a popular history everyone should read.Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money

For those who missed the sixties (like most of us, whether demographically or spiritually), this vital book goes a long way toward explaining the original wound that festers in our culture wars still. Witness to the Revolution is to the counterculture what Howell Rainess My Soul Is Rested is to the civil rights movement, a pageant of humanness that induces throat-clogging wonder at then and now.Diane McWhorter, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Carry Me Home

At once reliving and reflecting on the end of the 1960s, the voices in Witness to the Revolution provide a compelling history and an authentic testimony of a turbulent time. As we live through a new moment of political turmoil, its critical that we revisit an era when arguments over politics and culture were palpable, urgent, and revolutionary. Clara Bingham takes us there.Gay Talese, author of A Writers Life

The cities and campuses were blowing up, the races and generations were at war, sex, drugs, and violence gripped our young. How the hell did that happen Clara Bingham, a gifted reporter with a great sense of story, tells us in this moving, funny, horrifying, clarifying book. This is the best sixties book since Edie.Evan Thomas, author of Being Nixon

In her compelling and dramatic oral history of that fleeting moment when America seemed to be a nation on the brink, Clara Bingham directs the choir of Woodstock Nationan artfully composed collection of voices of those who went up the country or on a long strange trip, those sent off to Southeast Asia and others who stayed home and were driven mad by the Vietnam War. Singing a song of would-be revolution, this collection of antiwar veterans, Black Panthers, radicals, rock stars, and others who let their freak flags fly, not to mention a few Nixon intimates and fellow travelers, defies the notion that if you remember it, you werent there. Vivid, vibrant, and crackling with energy, Witness to the Revolution takes you to the exact spot where the wave of the sixties, the Movement, and the Age of Aquarius crested. You can almost smell the tear gas.Nick Turse, author of Kill Anything That Moves

Witness to the Revolution is a remarkable oral history, deftly weaving together vivid characters, traumatic events, and fractious movements. As we stand again as witnesses to a vertiginous period of change and challenge, Binghams book is powerfully relevant. Above all, it is a vibrant and critical guide to a time that changed our nation forever.Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation

Author Bio

Lindsey Lee Johnson holds a master of professional writing degree from the University of Southern California and a BA in English from the University of California at Davis. She has served as a tutor and mentor at a private learning center, where her focus has been teaching writing to teenagers. Born and raised in Marin County, she now lives with her husband in Los Angeles.