The Cookbook (The Cookbook: Coming of Age in Turbulent Times)

by William Powell

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Cookbook: Coming of Age in Turbulent Times is an autobiography and retrospective written by William Powell, author of The Anarchist Cookbook. Released 50 years after T.A.C.'s original release in 1969, it's a timely and compelling look at the 60's counterculture in the USA and how anger and disenfranchisement led to the writing and publication of one of the most notorious books in modern history. This autobiography is brutally honest and unflinching. The author makes few apologies and uses the platform to instead provide profound insights and analyses about western society and humans in general.

Released 16th June 2019, it's 258 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

In his professional adult career, William Powell devoted his energies to education and helping non-traditional students. He disavowed T.A.C. and gave very few interviews or explanations about his earlier life. He spends some time to carefully examine how the writing (as an angry 19 year old) transformed and informed his later adult life and choices.

I was in tears several times reading about what he went through as a child and young man and the raw emotion from the (hopefully) cathartic process of writing it down and putting it out there. Whatever else he was (he sadly died in 2016) he was a masterful and compelling writer.

I am just about 15 years younger than the author, but I remember the anger and upheaval of the late 60's and early 70's in the USA (and the world). The rapid change and disaffection caused by so many disparate factors (globalization, military engagements to which the majority of people were opposed, gender and racial battles) changed the cultural landscape. I see -so- many parallels with current events that it's scary. The political and cultural upheaval happening today are eerily analogous to the pressure cooker which birthed the cultural revolution.

It could so easily have devolved into self-aggrandizement and chest thumping and blame displacement and it didn't. It's a raw examination of culture and invitation for readers to engage in self examination and (hopefully) inspiration to take responsibility to improve our society in a non-violent manner for all of us.

Worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. This title is available in the KU subscription.

I recommend this book unreservedly. This would make a superlative support text for everything from creative writing, to history, to gender and racial studies, to political science. This is an important book.

Five stars. I wish I could give it more.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.