In the years following World War II, the Beat Generation began a literary revolution that changed American culture profoundly. Literature, music, fashion, art... none of it would ever be the same again. The fifties and sixties were a vibrant time of social upheaval, when art flourished against a turbulent backdrop. This optimism gave way to the cynicism of the seventies, and another cultural transition most famously portrayed by writer Hunter S. Thompson. In this fun-yet-scholarly chapbook, Mickey Harper explores the history of the American counterculture from Kerouac to Thompson and all the landmarks in between.