The Walrus and the Elephants

James A Mitchell

$49.99

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Seven Stories Press,U.S.
15 December 2013

Rock & Pop music; Individual composers & musicians, bands & groups; Biography: arts & entertainment; Political activism

In late 1971 John Lennon left London behind and moved to New York, eager to join a youth movement rallying for social justice and an end to the Vietnam War. Lennon was quickly embraced by radicals and revolutionaries, the hippies and Yippies at odds with the establishment. Settling in Greenwich Village, the heart of Manhattan's counterculture, the former Beatle was soon on the frontlines of the antiwar movement, and championing a range of causes and issues. Seen as a savior by a generation in need of cultural heroes, Lennon was just as passionately hounded by a government eager to find enemies within. The FBI and White House considered Lennon a threat; a plan was devised to deport the singer prior to the election as a ""strategic counter-measure"" to preserve Richard Nixon's presidency in 1972.

The Walrus and the Elephants is told by the unlikely cast of friends, including the musicians of Elephant's Memory, who were among the few with a chance to see the man behind the Beatle. Exclusive interviews include writer and feminist leader Gloria Steinem; congressional black caucus cofounder Ron Dellums; ""Chicago Seven"" veteran Rennie Davis; immigration attorney Leon Wildes; and legendary poet-activist John Sinclair, whose imprisonment for marijuana--a ten-year sentence for two joints--kicked off Lennon's American journey.

It was a busy year of making albums, controversial TV appearances and what would be Lennon's last full-length concert at Madison Square Garden; it was a time of great change in America, the confrontations that began brewing in the sixties reaching an end for many movements . . . and the beginning of a new era. John Lennon fought for peace and was treated with scorn by some, suspicion by others--including a government wishing to silence the singer. The Walrus and the Elephants is a look back by those who fought the fight; he was a dreamer, but he wasn't the only one.

By: James A Mitchell
Imprint: Seven Stories Press,U.S.
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 215mm, Width: 145mm, Spine: 26mm
Weight: 457g
ISBN: 9781609804671
ISBN 10: 1609804678
Pages: 274
Publication Date: 15 December 2013
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Author JAMES A. MITCHELL is the author of But for the Grace- Profiles in Peace from a Nation at Wa (Mansion Field, 2009), the story of an orphanage in Sri Lanka's war-torn northeast; rock biography It Was All Right- Mitch Ryder's Life in Music (Wayne State University Press, 2008); and tales from a rural newspaper, Applegate- Freedom of the Press in a Small Town (2002, University Press of America). A reporter and editor for more than twenty years, Mitchell was a US Army soldier-journalist, and spent a decade in New York working for Firehouse and Video Business magazines. His works on a wide range of subjects have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, the Humanist, and Starlog. From South Asia, Mitchell produced video features for CNN's iReports in the aftermath of the twenty-six-year civil war. Mitchell lives in southeast Michigan, and serves with a nonprofit organization that supports the Grace Care Center children's home in Sri Lanka. The author makes frequent appearances before community and civic groups regarding Sri Lanka, and has appeared on radio and TV shows to discuss Detroit rock and roll.

Reviews for The Walrus and the Elephants

James Mitchell carefully and lovingly has reconstructed an inspiring and poignant chapter both in John Lennon's odyssey and in the tangled flow of the American anti-war and other protest movements of the late nineteen sixties and early seventies. The Walrus and The Elephants is an indispensable window into an amazing time in American history and the history of rock and roll. --Danny Goldberg, author of Bumping Into Geniuses This book serves as a backstage pass to the missing link between Lennon's music and his activism, ranging from decriminalization of marijuana to termination of undeclared war--both ends of that spectrum fueled by the government's misuse of power without compassion--revealing how the Nixon administration tried to silence him. --Paul Krassner, author of Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Misadventures in the Counterculture Lennon is one of the most documented individuals in modern culture, yet never before has this early New York period of his history been examined with greater depth and clarity. --Lee Ranaldo, co-founder of Sonic Youth