The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool

"Aimed at baby boomers as well as their kids, author and Web designer Strodder (Stories Light and Dark) has provided more than 250 profiles of actors, musicians, writers, politicians, athletes and others who defined a decade. Using a light, humorous approach, complimented by hundreds of vintage photographs and trivia sidebars-including lists of Wimbledon champions, memorable TV theme songs and "Record-Setting '60s Playmates"-each profile is divided up into subheads concerning career, love life and miscellany. Though he doesn't attempt analysis of people's lives or legacies (the darker moments of icons like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis get a sentence or two at best), and tracking down some names can be tricky (Kurt Vonnegut doesn't have an entry in the V's, but rather shares his with Joseph Heller), Strodder does an admirable job sharing professional and personal tales from just about everyone relevant to the storied decade."-Publishers Weekly

"Opening with an essay by Sixties pop legend Michelle Phillips (the last surviving original member of The Mamas & The Papas), Strodder's guide is an essential catalog of 1960s culture. The 250 entries profiling influential personalities of the era are broken into three segments: the subject's rise, professional trajectory, and private world. Each entry includes a sidebar of subject-related trivia, e.g., "30 Artists (of Thousands) Who Have Recorded Dylan's Songs." Along the bottom of each page, a day-by-day notable events list runs like an NYSE trade-ticker. The text has the quirky, tongue-in-cheek tone of Judy Jones and William Wilson's An Incomplete Education (1987)."-Library Journal

"A kind of old-fashioned MySpace of our generation, this is a compendium of more than 250 profiles of actors, musicians, writers, politicians, athletes, and others who defined a-or is it "the"?-decade."-AARP The Magazine

"Here's a groovy blast from the past. Get the low-down on more than 250 personalities who made a significant contribution to '60s pop culture.....this is a really fun way of pulling everything together and settling bets about obscure icons."-Inside Entertainment

"Want a fun, eminently groovy read this weekend? Check out The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool (Santa Monica Press, $24.95 SRP), which has entries on everything from Woodstock and Lenny Bruce to Terry Southern and the Ford Mustang."-quickstopentertainment.com