The cultural revolution we know as the Sixties happened because a unique breed of creative activist/anthropologists gotinvolved in making American culture live up to its ideals. Some of us were "trained" while others developed and applied their own exceptional intuitive anthropological self-cultural awareness.

Paul Krassner, besides being a child prodigy musician, a funny stand up comic, an outrageous satirist and founder and editor of the Realist, sometimes described as "the first underground newpaper", and a great friend to many great people, is also one of the key Sixties activist anthropologists who was present and involved with just about every important juncture of the cultural revolution. To this fellow participant observer, he was/is a model culturally aware activist and unlike most anthropologists, he was and is funny. Best of all Paul is still going strong into the new--rapidly aging-- millenium

Reading Paul's stories in "Murder" about his fascinating Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, and Nineties, friends--Lennie Bruce, Steve Allen, Abbie Hoffman, John Lilly, Ken Kesey, Jerry Garcia, Ram Das, and best of all, other fabulous people you haven't heard of- is like sharing a great bottle of Burgundy wine or some fine grass. Read this book...

PS. (The Seinfield viagra scenario is hilarious--Classic Krassner.)

This is my first encounter with Paul Krassner's work. He is a '60s legend, and he still manages to write fresh, entertaining pieces, that really offer a different perspective. I enjoyed the pieces about Ken Kesey, Lenny Bruce, Hunter Thompson, Abbie Hoffman. I wasn't bored with any of the topics he covered, even the Monica Lewinsky affair, which is old news by now. It would have been boring if it wasn't dealt with Krassner's wit, humor, and knack for coming up with original story ideas, and ways to tackle an assignment. As a journalism student, I've learned a lot from Krassner, and I want to say, Thanks for the great book man.

The Realistis episodic adventure in satire; and though some pages are not politically correct, you feel the sixties are not dead just underground. We get a lot of drug realted acticles mixed with facts realities of the sixties how exciting it was, how it felt, how it was to be a hippie.

This book is the best book ever written! God I love this book I have read it oh I dont know like at least 100 times I love it that much not much of a science fiction fan but this book tells a story with out little green aliens everywhere it has people with life living within the pages I just bought the 2 others in the series I cant wait great book MUST READ and this means you!

Paul Krassner is an amazing writer who sees the pain of the last half-century so clearly that he can't even take himself seriously. I love the playful way he pokes fun at our most horrendous historical peaks because, after all, if you couldn't laugh you just might not be able to stop crying. He's fun, and a lot of people have had fun with him. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that hurts his credibility, and that hurts any vision of truth he may have. Still, I was so impressed by an online essay that came to an email list I'm on that I looked him up on amazon.com and found this book. I just know that what we need more of these days is the kind of underground press Krassner was an important part of in the 60s. I'm glad he's still around. I would like to see him get just a little more serious. It's not funny anymore.

Paul Krassner's reporting style is part Gonzo, part radical/hippie sensibilities, part grinning wiseass. He gets into his stories by becoming part of them; sometimes, by veering into the center of the action; other times, by perching.

I find Krassner's reportorial meddling in proportion to the sanity of the story's surroundings. When he's forced to perch (the Patty Hearst trial, the Moscone-Milk murders or Jonestown), he's still meddling with the players, but the events themselves are so mired in political agenda, shoddy lawyering, power freaks gone mad, and (of course) Krassner's own paranoia, that making sense of the facts becomes a struggle against sheer exhaustion.

His style in his California social landscape pieces keep good company with Joan Didion's work in Slouching towards Bethlehem. Unlike Didion, who is practically pH-neutral in her reporting, Krassner is hip to his scenes. In this collection he covers New Age guru Terence McKenna and a Swinger's Convention. Like Didion, though, he can participate without losing his role as a reporter to us. He reserves comment in places where I suspected he might well have interjected an insight, but you might also say he just lets his subjects speak for themselves.

Of particular note: Krassner's collation of facts around Patty Hearst's kidnapping and trial for bank robbery show how exhaustion can beat the reporter down. The center cannot hold in those stories, and Krassner doesn't try to manufacture a stable one. The Hearst pieces best reflect Krassner's conviction that people with power have no use for reason unless it suits their purpose. That's a harsh world, one that's as difficult to deny as it is to accept.

As a big fan of marijuana and Paul Krassner & Harlan Ellison (the only two credits amazon gave to the book) I decided to make a rash decision and buy this book. Color me disappointed. Perhaps I got what I deserved since I was never a fan of High Times or the whole culture of wearing your love for the bud on your sleeve. I just naturally assumed Krassner would pick stories that would stray away from the basic cliches. No dice. While a few of the stories are mildly entertaining the majority of the book is basically just your standard pot stories that me, you, and our mothers have all experienced. In all seriousness the most enjoyable part of the book is hearing stories from men and women who've lead lives hundreds of times more interesting than mine tell half paged stories about smoking a joint and eating ice cream. While not actively bad, I would stay away from this book unless you've written a letter to the AFI complaining that Half-Baked wasn't on their list of 100 funniest films.

First off, let me say that the past reviewer who said this book was "same old same old" has obviously never read this book. This guy probably just saw the High Times logo, and just imagined what this book was. Of all the ways I could descibe this great book, I would never say that this book is "same old same old."

As a person who has smoked marijuana, and has many friends who also smoke, I must say that the stories presented in this book have no similarity to my life. I only wish that I had the same cool adventures listed in these pages! I am just your average Joe, with a job, a car, and a nice little place in the city. While some people think all marijuana users are wild "Cheech and Chong" types, I am here to say that I am no diferent today, then when I started to smoke. I am shy, quiet, and only share my marijuana smoking with my closet of friends. Living in this country, I am always afraid to tell anyone about my "hobby", out of fear that I will end up in prison. While it might feed into some square's fantasy that all pot smokers all crazy nut jobs, I am here to say that we are all not Timothy Learys and Robert Downy Jrs.

Having said that, let me say that this book was a trip into the cool world of cannabis heaven. Stories of people, just like us, who happen to have neat adventures while they are high. And it is not what you think. While some reviewers might think this book is the ranting of a few stoners, I am here to say that it is no such thing.

Stories of love, escape, hate, paranormal, history, travel, and so much more. I could not put this book down. Each story was so personal and intimate, that I felt that these people are now my close friends. It is my wish that everyone who thinks that marijuana is "dangerous" will read this book. If this does not open your eyes and free your mind, then you are a zombie!

Now, for the standard stoner yell: FREE THE WEED!!

But something tells me that we will just get, "same old same old."

I found the book to be funny, poignant, and interesting. Famous people revealing their funniest pot stories.

Nice collection of historic stories about the history of LSD. This has a slightly different account, of the history we have all heard before; as reguards the 60's counter-culture movement.

Its full of satire thats clever but I didnt laugh once. AND I REALLY WANTED TO.
Give me a refund Now you hear that. Im talking!! Vonnegut thinks this is funny. What book did he right and can he explain why the pope acts this way! So we should just make fun of him until he cleans up his act???

it was nice to read this book because it gave us every thing we needed to know in our life thats y everything was just going righ.

Paul Krassner is a master of political and social satire and this collection showcases some of his best work. Buy it!