Abbie Hoffman's "Steal This Book" is generally a survival guide on how to live in the U.S. that is divided into 3 parts. The first chapters on how to get free stuff is brilliant. Some ideas in order to gain free service or items area so ironic, you'd probably not think of it yourself. In section two, Hoffman describes how to take action against oppression and what to prepare for. Bomb making, first aid, and the introduction to new common sense is delivered straight from the mind of Hoffman. The third section is the shortest, but if you happen to live in the big urban and metropolitan areas, it locates address and phone numbers on where to get free stuff in a more specific sense overall toward the book. Even if "Steal This Book" is mainly outdated, it comprises on a guide to a life in the U.S. and words of wisdom he used and recommends.

This book was the BIBLE for street survival. The cons, tips, etc. are SEVERELY DATED by todays standards. But as a runaway, living on the streets of N.Y.C. in the early 70's, ALL THE SCAMS WORKED. I probably would have ended up having to GO HOME, were it not for the information in this book. Todays readers may find it a comical view of the "Revolution", but the people in the know, will tell you it was the greatest thing since the "Welfare Check". I STILL have my original copy (stolen from a bookstore, of course). REQUIRED READING for anyone studying the hippie revolution of the 60's

Although nearly all of the addresses (for underground newspapers and political groups) and technological advice (How to call for free on payphones; Using washers and foreign coins in vending machines) is sadly out-dated, this book is a watermark in the radicalism of the hippie era. Reading it is like reminiscing with an old friend. You can just about smell the reefer smoke. It still captures the spirit of that perilous time, and makes a great companion piece to Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas". On a practical note, it has important tips on: how to scrounge for free furniture; basic bread, cereal, and beans and rice recipies; making sandals out of old tires; getting free publicity for your cause; first aid techniques (just in case the riot goes the wrong way); even how to establish a grocery co-operative (Abbie called it a "food conspiracy"...ever the radical!). Someone should write a newer version of a book like this. Ah, Abbie, I miss you old rascal!

I wonder if Raskin would ever be so hypercritical of just about every statement she has ever made, the way she is of Abbie. The book was interesting at first, but I feel she went way overboard in disecting everything Abbie said and how "factual" it really was. After a while it seemed like one big critique of everything Abbie said. Like she set out to prove he lied about everything. "Well, he said this and I went back and interviewed five different people who said it actually happened like this." To me a biography should be about how someone lived, not a dissection of everything they said. She really turned a fascinating story about a very creative and excitng person into almost a police report - "just the facts, mam."

This book really bugged me!

Abbie survived under fake ID, after a drug bust,but succumbed to personality disorder,for which he took medications, He was America's foremost radical->Activist- of 60's, he fought for the enviroment in 70's.....watch for movie of his life.."Steal this Movie"...

Without question, the best of the recent spate of Abbie Hoffman bios. Lucid, well-researched, with more than 200 oral histories. What prevents it from receiving a "10" rating is that Raskin devotes only one short chapter to Hoffman's life in the late seventies and eighties. Despite the lack of attention paid to Hoffman's later life, the material leading up to the last chapter flows nicely, and tells the story of a complex, energetic, and ultimately great American.

This is an interesting collection of articles written by Abbie when he was on the run. Needless to say, some are better than others, but all in all, it is Hoffman from many aspects. We see him as the Prankster touring the Federal Bureau if Investiongation while he is on the wanted list. He is the invisible man at a party in New York. He is the activist in fighting the dredging of the river and he is the social commentator going through the newspaper and noting how strange parts of the world have become.

Some of the articles are a trip down memory lane or at least another perspective on history. Others are still relevent today. Obviously, his tips for going underground are outdated in today's world - but the commentary of the language of the the public relations of the U.S. and the translation of the news still holds today. Only the names of the leaders and countries have changed.

I picked up this book in 10th grade and everyone that saw me read it thought that I had an interest in Square Dancing. When I said that he was talking about the disappointment he felt in the Carter administration, they thought that I was talking about the Hostage Crisis which was just a small part of it.

Even though it is written in the 70s, this is a quintessential book for anyone obsessed with 60s counterculture. Abbie Hoffman living on the run writes everything from the perspective of the Yippie extraordinaire. From posing as a restaurant critic to mocking Pat Robertson to expressing disappointment in the first liberal Democratic President since Johnson, Abbie Hoffman's perspective is one of dissatisfaction coupled with love of America. He will be missed.

What particularly impressed me with this book was the anti-myth stance. Hoffman knows that he created the myths of the 60s hippie more than anyone else, but he downplays the "voice of a generation" stance. When he reviews a movie with an Abbie Hoffman inspired character, he is fighting for his own personal honor. There's also a decidely refreshing anti-PC strain running through the book. This man fights for the environment, fights for the dignity of the human and is fiercely anti-war, but he doesn't dismiss his critics as idiots. He also refrains from getting into academic polemics that have killed more than one student organization that sets out to do something decent and ends up fighting. When I read The Strawberry Alarm Clock I was utterly turned off by the pompous main character and his "everyone hates us so we hate everyone" stance. Sadly the SAC narrator is the majority and people like Abbie Hoffman are the minority.

Throughout this book there is a strong moral stance, maybe not on the sexual,monetary or drug front but on the shared humanity. He speaks for compassion, the environment and the human even at his most foolish. The essay where he mocks Pat Robertson there is a gentleness to the mockery, as if Pat Robertson doesn't know what a mockery he is making of himself.

Great essays include the title one about the Carter administration, the essay about the 700 Club, and the last one concerning building an environmental movement in upstate New York. Other essays are dated, but for the most part this is. . . an outstanding. . . book. Abbie Hoffman will be missed.

This was very entertaining. I finished it in only two weeks and i'm a pretty slow reader. I would definitely recommend this to any one who enjoys reading books of this genre.

This book is no better than any of the other graduate level marketing books that are available. You might think that since this book has 15 authors it might have something that books with only 3 authors lacks. But, if you thought this you'd be wrong. This book offers nothing new and its extremely high price makes it even less appealing.

This book combines the knowledge of excellent scholars of marketing in a clear and structured format which is accessible to undergraduates. In addition, the cases and other teaching materials provide excellent support.

As I read this book, a birthday gift, I might add, I became increasingly certain I had read it before. I have avidly read and re read all of Kinky's previous books, I have seen him a number of times on his tours of Australia, hell I even have one of his guitar picks framed and on my wall with a silver plaque. Don't say I'm not a big fan!

This book unfortunately left me stone cold. Even at the end, (yes it is rather lame) I found myself saying, surely I've read this before. I was so certain, I told my wife she bought the wrong book! Only on reading these other reviews have I realised this was actually a new work. Certainly not the Kinkster's greatest.

I anxiosly await the release of the next installment.

This is NOT A book for a first time Kinky reader!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having read all of Mr. Friedman's previous titles, it was great to finally learn the origin of The Kinkstah's illustrious career as a private dick. The reluctant Village Irregulars seem to fall into place one by one in humorous and unexpected ways. Abbie Hoffman's presence as a character adds an interesting perspective to the story; making it both nostalgic and somewhat touching.

The world that Kinky's characters inhabit can, at times, be lonely, dark and dangerous. The truth is, though, that these misfits form a "family"; always there for one another in the end. Somehow, Kinky Friedman's stories, and all of the baggage that he gives "The Kinkstah" to carry around with him, are reminders that we always need to remain true to our nature. Basically, in the end, it will be where all the roads will take us back to anyway. If we let our true selves guide us, it can be all we need to get by. Well, perhaps that combined with some quirky pals, a dispassionate feline, a cheap cigar and a shot of Jameson.

Man, am I addicted to Kinky's gonzonian books! Look at me, I'm a Jewish Italian former transplant to Aussieland, and what do I like reading? About a sleazeball, down-and-out, retired Texan country-music detective with a cranky cat in the house (is that a house?) and half a puppet on the fridge. This particular novel is actually a prequel - just like the last Star Wars - that answers all your burning questions about those Village [fellows] Kinky hangs around with. Happy now? I shouldn't think so: this is actually a suspenseful tale of murder, mayhem, madness, eroticism, and irrepressible laughter. Kinky, sei in gamba!

As Emmitt Grogan of the Diggers said, Abbie Hoffman was a snitch. Fink, rat, stool pigeon, whichever word you prefer. For example: as soon as someone told him about them, he wrote about all the ways to get free food in NYC, which of course meant the authorities shut them all down. But Abbie got his momentary publicity buzz. Typical of how he operated his entire "career."

By attempting to reintroduce The Hoff to a new generation, this book certainly attempted the honourable. However, one of the most important elements of the original trio of books that make up the bulk of the text of this volume (REVOLUTION FOR THE HELL OF IT, WOODSTOCK NATION and STEAL THIS BOOK) was the brilliant artwork, punctuating the texts, that was not even mentioned in this one. If you can't find the original three, this will be a passable introduction to Hoffman's brilliance, but be forewarned that you're missing out on a unique experience.

Abbie was a rebel and I am proud to be from the same country as him.

He was the first to wear an american flag as a shirt (we see it on shirts, shoes, bandanas, etc now). He was proud to be an american and wanted to keep this country free.

Remember all the freedoms we have and what it would be like if no one fought for them.