The Haight by: David Rudabaugh

The Haight is a new book that captures the flavor, tastes and smells of the Hippy experience in San Francisco of the 1960s. A guided tour of the Haight-Ashbury of 1967 lead by a young college bound adventurer mistaken upon his arrival as a mysterious musician whose reputation has preceded him. Taken in as one of their own by the colorful locals, it is through his wide eyes that we get a believable and very funny look at the characters and events that made the era so memorable. Many of the touchstone events of the Summer of Love are relived vividly and for once the hippies and flower children of the Sixties are depicted as fully realized and interesting people rather than stereotypical caricatures. The color, music and sweet smelling smoke are all there as well even if only as printed words but the vividness in which this unique and mystical world is brought to life rivals the most intense hallucinogenic experience. The Haight, however, is still legal.