Strange Days Indeed: The 1970s: The Golden Days of Paranoia
*Starred Review* Like the 1960s, the 1970s were more of a concept than a specific 10-year period. If the ’60s were defined by the sexual revolution and civil-rights activism, the ’70s’ central theme, Wheen suggests, was paranoia. World leaders such as U.S. president Nixon and British prime ministers Heath and Wilson were well known for delusional and sometimes irrational behavior; writers such as Philip K. Dick and Norman Mailer published works that displayed a troubling paranoia (OK, Mailer was right, and the FBI really was spying on him, but nobody knew that for certain until 30-odd years later). American cinemas were full of movies with themes of paranoia: The Conversation, The Parallax View, even Jaws. In the movies, the paranoia is justified because the fears are legitimate: there really is a government conspiracy, and the politicos of Amity really are willing to sacrifice people’s lives to keep the beaches open. Oh, and let’s not forget Watergate, Jonestown, and the cold war. The 1970s provide a rich panorama of paranoia, and Wheen explores it gleefully, writing about its “pungent mélange of apocalyptic dread and conspiratorial fever” and pointing out how, no matter how surreal the decade seems in retrospect, there are startling moments of familiarity and déja vu (when you think about it, our world today is not so different). A hugely entertaining book that makes you laugh, think, and look over your shoulder—sometimes all at the same time. --David Pitt