One of my all-time favorites, and it had a large influence on me, growing up. I romanticized the sixties and the hippie era that I just missed by a decade or two, so this book let me live through that time vicariously, and I could easily identify with the author and her friends. I didn't have any of the same experiences really (or not yet, at least), but in terms of their feelings and experiences of self-discovery in a chaotic time, I really felt a kinship with these women.

And to me, reading about other times (or other cultures, for that matter) through the lens of people living their day-to-day lives is best way to understand an era. So if you want to experience the sixties as three different women did, this book can give you just that.

Note however that they are not really diverse in terms of class, culture or ethnicity, so it is very limited in that regard. There's also very little about lgbtia history and experiences, so you'll have to find all those other voices elsewhere. But for the viewpoints written about, at least, it paints a vivid picture of the time.

Note: I can't recall how many times I have read this, probably at least ten. But I first read it around 1978 or 79, and last read it a few years ago. And am soon to read it again! ( )

Not my favorite of the classic feminist tomes. Privileged white women who came of age in the 1960s leave their husbands. Some find other men, some don't. So? ( )

This book follows the lives and friendships of three young women from their first meeting with each other in 1962 at the University of California at Berkley through the events that "radicalized" them all after college. They all were living during the tumultuous decade known as the "Swinging Sixties" in the "birthplace" of many radical movements - Berkley. Susie is a young woman just becoming involved with the Free Speech Movement in Berkley and finds herself navigating through the early struggle for women's rights. Tasha enters the trendy art and society scene in New York. Sara, an idealistic journalist, travels the country reporting on the stories of the time.

I did enjoy this book very much and thought that it was very well-written. I grew up in the sixties in England; and although there was quite a radical culture that developed in parts of England during the sixties; I never really moved in those circles during college life myself, so never became "radicalized" the way others may have been during the sixties. I give this book an A! ( )