Nearly forgotten "sociological megahits" of 1970
Charles Reich, Who Saw ‘The Greening of America,’ Dies at 91 . ( The New York Times , 6/17/2019) T he excerpt, and the subsequent best-selling book, gave Mr. Reich a kind of rock-star celebrity. “The Greening of America” entered the canon of sociological megahits published in 1970, alongside Alvin Toffler’s “Future Shock” and Philip Slater’s “The Pursuit of Loneliness.” But while Mr. Reich’s fame spilled beyond the Yale campus, even spawning a character based on him in the comic strip “Doonesbury,” many critics saw his sermonizing as naïve and sentimental. The cover of the first paperback edition of Future Shock was printed in 4 different colors. A UB acquaintance of mine at the time confessed he had purchased all 4, thinking they were a series. Probably just what the marketing folks at Bantam Books had in mind. Related posts: 2019 Anthony Price, author of Cold War spy thrillers that few people read anymore, dies at 90 . (6/17/2019) Herman Wouk, author of many fat books, dies at