Reviews
"Something very special took place in San Francisco in the Sixties, generating waves of social and aesthetic motion that still ricochet around this planet. The Explosion of Deferred Dreams takes a clear-eyed, politically engaged view that separates truth from propaganda. Grasping why the time became legendary and how society dealt with the challenges it created is what Explosion is about--and it accomplishes this critical task with intelligence and clarity." --Dennis McNally, author, A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead, "An enthralling critique of the corporate music industry, and the years during which it attempted to understand the musical insurgency that was taking place." --sdonline.org, "In this landmark work, Mat Callahan painstakingly braids disparate threads of the rich tapestry of San Francisco--music, politics, race, culture. In this vast, panoramic portrait, Callahan digs out social/political undercurrents that have never been more thoroughly explored." --Joel Selvin, author, Summer of Love: The Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love and High Times in the Wild West, "Mat Callahan was a red diaper baby lucky to be attending a San Francisco high school during the 'Summer of Love.' He takes a studied approach, but with the eye of a revolutionary, describing the sociopolitical landscape that led to the explosion of popular music (rock, jazz, folk, R&B) coupled with the birth of several diverse radical movements during the golden 1965-1975 age of the Bay Area. Callahan comes at it from every angle imaginable (black power, anti-Vietnam War, the media, the New Left, feminism, sexual revolution--with the voice of authority backed up by interviews with those who lived it." --Pat Thomas, author, Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975, "All too often, people talk about the '60s without mentioning our music and the fun we had trying to smash the state and create a culture based upon love. Mat Callahan's book is a necessary corrective." --George Katsiaficas, author, The Imagination of the New Left: A Global Analysis of 1968, "Mat Callahan was a red diaper baby lucky to be attending a San Francisco high school during the 'Summer of Love.' He takes a studied approach, but with the eye of a revolutionary, describing the sociopolitical landscape that led to the explosion of popular music (rock, jazz, folk, R&B) coupled with the birth of several diverse radical movements during the golden 1965-1975 age of the Bay Area. Callahan comes at it from every angle imaginable (black power, anti-Vietnam War, the media, the New Left, feminism, sexual revolution--with the voice of authority backed up by interviews with those who lived it." --Pat Thomas, author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975 "All too often, people talk about the '60s without mentioning our music and the fun we had trying to smash the state and create a culture based upon love. Mat Callahan's book is a necessary corrective." --George Katsiaficas, author of The Imagination of the New Left: A Global Analysis of 1968 "Something very special took place in San Francisco in the Sixties, generating waves of social and aesthetic motion that still ricochet around this planet. The Explosion of Deferred Dreams takes a clear-eyed, politically engaged view that separates truth from propaganda. Grasping why the time became legendary and how society dealt with the challenges it created is what Explosion is about--and it accomplishes this critical task with intelligence and clarity." --Dennis McNally, author of A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead "In this landmark work, Mat Callahan painstakingly braids disparate threads of the rich tapestry of San Francisco--music, politics, race, culture. In this vast, panoramic portrait, Callahan digs out social/political undercurrents that have never been more thoroughly explored." --Joel Selvin, Summer of Love: The Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love and High Times in the Wild West, "Readers beware: this book is not for those wishing for another day-glo daydream of the Merry Pranksters, Grateful Dead, and LSD. Instead, it is a deep, philosophical-historical meditation about the revolutionary potential of music in San Francisco." --Peter Cole, beyondchron.org, "This book takes us deep into the nexus where art and politics collide and collude; specifically, the nexus where the music of the San Francisco Bay Area colluded to help inspire and inform a cultural revolution that changed minds and social realities." --Ron Jacobs, counterpunch.org
