Altamont Augie

Altamont Augie is a novel of the late 1960s that is concerned with the importance of national honor and the choice between nihilism and tradition that all free societies must face. The story takes place in some of the era's most iconic settings--the legendary Vietnam battlefield of Khe Sanh; a Midwestern campus riven by dissent; and Altamont Speedway, site of the notorious rock concert profiled in the film Gimme Shelter.The usual narrative of the Sixties has as its cornerstone the...
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Altamont Augie is a novel of the late 1960s that is concerned with the importance of national honor and the choice between nihilism and tradition that all free societies must face. The story takes place in some of the era's most iconic settings--the legendary Vietnam battlefield of Khe Sanh; a Midwestern campus riven by dissent; and Altamont Speedway, site of the notorious rock concert profiled in the film Gimme Shelter.The usual narrative of the Sixties has as its cornerstone the Generation Gap. But this was a passing, adolescent thing. Of more lasting consequence was a conflict within the Baby Boom generation itself, the seldom-told story of campus showdowns between student activists of the New Left and New Right--a battle that rages still. It is the dramatization of this latter conflict that distinguishes Altamont Augie from many other books about the Sixties that have preceded it.