Woodstock: The Summer of Our Lives
Despite teetering on the brink of disaster throughout the weekend--food ran short, performers failed to show, toilet facilities and medical care were inadequate--the Woodstock Music and Art Fair: An Aquarian Exposition (the festival's full title) has become a positive symbol of late '60s counterculture. Curry, entertainment editor for USA Today , examines the significance of Woodstock by tracing the experiences and perceptions of 19 individuals associated with the event: organizers, local residents, entertainers and attendees. He explores how each became involved with Woodstock, follows their actions during the festival and shows how their lives have been affected by their participation. Although Curry supplements his protagonists' recollections with a fair amount of researched information and gently corrects obvious memory lapses, he generally allows the myths of Woodstock to breathe on. In so doing, he demonstrates an axiom of historical study: that actual events are not nearly as important as the way in which they are remembered. Photos not seen by PW.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.