Run Run Run

by Daniel Simon, Jack Hoffman, Dan Simon

Book Overview

Abbie Hoffman comes fully to life in this portrait, which features an especially good depiction of the 1960s radical's embattled relationship with his father. Author Jack Hoffman is sympathetic to his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874778115
• ISBN13: 9780874778113
• Release Date: March 1996
• Publisher: Tarcher
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Read After Viewing STEAL THIS MOVIE!

I was compelled to visit the Emmaus Public Library by my renewed enthusiam for STEAL THIS MOVIE! in its video form, which I viewed last Saturday. Their collection didn't contain the biography upon which the film was based (AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY), but it did feature this 1994 biography of Abbie Hoffman by his brother Jack.Last summer, I had seen a special sneak preview of STEAL THIS MOVIE! at the County Theater in Doylestown, PA (at which the film's director gave a short talk). I loved the film, and I was horrified when it received such little fanfare from reviewers and so little time in the multiplexes.The video confirmed my enthusiasm: it's a great film which captures the hopes and chaos of the 1960's in America, as well as the struggles of one manic-depressive to keep those in power accountable to the American Public.Jack Hoffman's biography of his brother Abbie fills in a huge quantity of details which the film ignored. It's the old tale of the blind men and the elephant: each man speaks the truth, but one needs the data of each individual in order to perceive the full picture. One needs the film AND this biography to begin to understand the complex person who was Abbie Hoffman.I believe Abbie Hoffman was a hero, but he also was human. RUN RUN RUN reveals the importance of family in Hoffman's life and in his career as an anti-war activist (and then activist for various environmental causes). The film completely ignores Hoffman's first wife and two children with her, as well as Hoffman's close links with his younger brother and sister.As I have read about Hoffman and watched his film biography, I have been struck by the idiocy of his harrassment by the American government, particularly the FBI. What a waste of taxpayer's dollars! Readers wishing to better understand the history of America in the 1960's through the melancholy tale of one person who sought to change the System through satire and media activism would do well to read Jack Hoffman's thoroughly honest, engrossing, and empathetic portrait of his brother, of a family, and of an era.

Compassionate last portrait

Although I prided myself on being leftwing, I thought I understood everything there was to know about Abbie Hoffman. The final tribute by his brother is sympathetic without covering or making excuses for less than stellar behavior with various drugs. Intially starting out as a clean cut middle class psychologist, Abbie Hoffman gradually morphed into one of the most recognizable revolutionaries in America during the 1960's and 1970's. This noteriety also placed him on the FBI's most wanted list, in court following the 1968 Democratic National Convention and eventually undeground in Mexico to evade a drug bust. Although he was certainly eccentric (a string of marriages and divorces)and a proponent of free love, he also came across as an average guy who worried about his kids, liked sports and remembered his roots. In turn, his family stuck by him even when it was not easy to be related to Abbie.I was also struck by how depressed Abbie felt when younger generations did not want to take on the system so vigorously. For somebody who prided himself on being hip and with it,realizing that young adults of the 1980s did not share his same moral righteousness must have been worse than fear of aprehension by the FBI and/or CIA.It is this state that Hoffman spent his final years. Although he still organized, it was apparent the 60's were long over. Nonetheless, he was optimistic that Michael Dukakis would become president in 1988. Although this dream did not become realized, it is interesting to theorize what kind of reaction he would have had to Clinton's election. Even if this book is intended to be a personal tribute to another family member, it convinced me more than ever that, if the world is more democratic and open minded since the 1960's,Abbie Hoffman, (among others) deserves the credit for this victory.I do not remember Hoffman's death,but am certain that he will remain deeply missed by many of those who did.