In this breathtaking cultural history filled with exclusive, never-before-revealed details, celebrated rock journalist Joel Selvin tells the definitive story of the Rolling Stones’ infamous Altamont concert, the disastrous historic event that marked the end of the idealistic 1960s. In the annals of rock history, the Altamont Speedway Free Festival on December 6, 1969, has long been seen as the distorted twin of Woodstock—the day that shattered the Sixties’ promise of peace and love when a concertgoer was killed by a member of the Hells Angels, the notorious biker club acting as security. While most people know of the events from the film Gimme Shelter, the whole story has remained buried in varied accounts, rumor, and myth—until now. Altamont explores rock’s darkest day, a fiasco that began well before the climactic death of Meredith Hunter and continued beyond that infamous December night. Joel Selvin probes every aspect of the show—from the Stones’ hastily planned tour preceding the concert to the bad acid that swept through the audience to other deaths that also occurred that evening—to capture the full scope of the tragedy and its aftermath. He also provides an in-depth look at the Grateful Dead’s role in the events leading to Altamont, examining the band’s behind-the-scenes presence in both arranging the show and hiring the Hells Angels as security. The product of twenty years of exhaustive research and dozens of interviews with many key players, including medical staff, Hells Angels members, the stage crew, and the musicians who were there, and featuring sixteen pages of color photos, Altamont is the ultimate account of the final event in rock’s formative and most turbulent decade.

“The most blisteringly impassioned music book of the season.” —New York Times Book Review A thrilling account of the Altamont Festival—and the dark side of the ‘60s. If Woodstock tied the ideals of the '60s together, Altamont unraveled them. In Just a Shot Away, writer and critic Saul Austerlitz tells the story of “Woodstock West,” where the Rolling Stones hoped to end their 1969 American tour triumphantly with the help of the Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, and 300,000 fans. Instead the concert featured a harrowing series of disasters, starting with the concert’s haphazard planning. The bad acid kicked in early. The Hells Angels, hired to handle security, began to prey on the concertgoers. And not long after the Rolling Stones went on, an 18-year-old African-American named Meredith Hunter was stabbed by the Angels in front of the stage. The show, and the Woodstock high, were over. Austerlitz shows how Hunter’s death came to symbolize the end of an era while the trial of his accused murderer epitomized the racial tensions that still underlie America. He also finds a silver lining in the concert in how Rolling Stone’s coverage of it helped create a new form of music journalism, while the making of the movie about Altamont, Gimme Shelter, birthed new forms of documentary. Using scores of new interviews with Paul Kantner, Jann Wenner, journalist John Burks, filmmaker Joan Churchill, and many members of the Rolling Stones' inner circle, as well as Meredith Hunter's family, Austerlitz shows that you can’t understand the ‘60s or rock and roll if you don’t come to grips with Altamont.

Deliciously wicked satires about local and international celebrities, the poems in Portable Altamont evince an irrepressible grasp of the zeitgeist, its machinations and manipulations, its possibilities and puerility. Who other than artist and raconteur Brian Joseph Davis could have imagined Margaret Atwood as a human beatbox, Jessica Simpson applying for arts grants or the Swedish Chef reciting T. S. Eliot? Davis uses every literary form available to revel in and rearrange pop culture. Even the index turns into a short story about Luke Perry's descent into a shadowy underworld of Parisian intellectuals and terrorists. A word of warning: this book is a complete and utter fiction. Philip Roth is not David Lee Roth's brother. Reese Witherspoon is not a Communist cell leader, and Don Knotts has never been a New Age guru. The stuff about Nicole Richie, however, is absolutely true. PortableAltamont is that rare book that is both incendiary and compulsively readable. Get to it before the lawyers do! 'Innovative in form, striking in content, Portable Altamont loads a literary blender with pop-culture icons both high and low, tosses in a jigger of surrealism and a pint of sardonic wit, sets the controls for hypermashup and then decants a delirious, delicious smoothie with brain-expanding powers.' - Paul Di Filippo, author of Ribofunk and The Steampunk Trilogy

Altamont Augie is a novel of the late 1960s that is concerned with the importance of national honor and the choice between nihilism and tradition that all free societies must face. The story takes place in some of the era's most iconic settings--the legendary Vietnam battlefield of Khe Sanh; a Midwestern campus riven by dissent; and Altamont Speedway, site of the notorious rock concert profiled in the film Gimme Shelter.The usual narrative of the Sixties has as its cornerstone the Generation Gap. But this was a passing, adolescent thing. Of more lasting consequence was a conflict within the Baby Boom generation itself, the seldom-told story of campus showdowns between student activists of the New Left and New Right--a battle that rages still. It is the dramatization of this latter conflict that distinguishes Altamont Augie from many other books about the Sixties that have preceded it.

First published in French in 1966, The Road Past Altamont pierces to the heart of a child's world, craeting a delicate, yet substantial network of impressions, emotions, and relationships. In her writing, Gabrielle Roy allowed "nothing extraneous or false to stand," according to the translator, Joyce Marshall. The literary style of Roy, whose fiction reflects her childhood on the Canadian prairie, has often been compared to that of Willa Cather.øThe Road Past Altamont takes a sensitive French-Canadian girl, Christine, from childhood innocence to maturity. Four connected stories reveal profound moments during her early years in the vastness of Manitoba. Christine's testament to Grandmother's creative power, her great adventure with an old gentleman at Lake Winnipeg and her clandestine one with a crude family of movers, her journey through time and space with aging Maman?all these characters and events convey Gabrielle Roy's preoccupation with childhood and old age, the passage of time and mystery of change, and the artist's relation to the world.

Bold Shapes and Clean Lines for Faster Modern Quilting Breathe some fresh air into your quilts with 20 stunning contemporary projects from designer Laura Preston. Using simple shapes and solid colors, Laura’s method streamlines the traditional quilting process for beautiful quilts in less time. Quilt tops come together quickly with large-scale cuts of fabric and as little piecing as possible, making these projects perfect for beginners. Advanced quilters can delve into modern techniques such as creating curved lines and working with negative space rather than intricate quilting blocks. From chic wall hangings to cozy crib-size and queen-size quilts, every project doubles as a work of art. Fueled by her minimalist lifestyle traveling the United States in her Airstream trailer, Laura’s designs reflect the striking landscapes of the American West. The Arches Queen Quilt showcases the dramatic curves found in Arches National Park in Utah. The Lone Pine Pillow, with its range of triangles, was inspired by the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the Sand Dollar Table Runner was sparked by a beach in Big Sur, California. Follow Laura’s insightful design tips, and soon you’ll start to see inspiration everywhere. With illustrated step-by-step instructions and in-depth tutorials, this book is an essential resource for the modern quilter.

First published in French in 1966, The Road Past Altamont pierces to the heart of a child's world, craeting a delicate, yet substantial network of impressions, emotions, and relationships. In her writing, Gabrielle Roy allowed "nothing extraneous or false to stand," according to the translator, Joyce Marshall. The literary style of Roy, whose fiction reflects her childhood on the Canadian prairie, has often been compared to that of Willa Cather. The Road Past Altamont takes a sensitive French-Canadian girl, Christine, from childhood innocence to maturity. Four connected stories reveal profound moments during her early years in the vastness of Manitoba. Christine's testament to Grandmother's creative power, her great adventure with an old gentleman at Lake Winnipeg and her clandestine one with a crude family of movers, her journey through time and space with aging Maman - all these characters and events convey Gabrielle Roy's preoccupation with childhood and old age, the passage of time and mystery of change, and the artist's relation to the world.