predictable as a medical text’s guide tonchildhood diseases: sororities; boys; thenPill; promiscuity; blacks; drugs; psychiatricnanalysis; feminism; ecology; easternnmysticism; professional ambitions. Evenntheir infatuation with their own youthnand creation of a Youth Culture seemsnominously familiar: “Youth, youth,nspringtime of beauty” was the reverentnanthem of Mussolini’s Italy. And againntheir frightening ignorance and lack ofnperspective is underlined by Susie’s statement:n”I thought I’d never grow old.”n”Time is on my side” pounded the RollingnStones as masses of young revolutionariesnwelded themselves together in a fascisticndisplay of strength. At one Stones’ concertnthe crowd became so unruly thatnSusie shivered in fear: “The masses shenloved were capable of killing her.” Together,ncommitted, physically similargoodnguys and bad were instantly discerniblenby hairstyle and garb —theynwould never feel the same excitementnand yes, fun, again. In New York, Saranreads of the turmoil at Berkeley withnyearning and regret: it was an enormousnparty and she was missing out.nFrom sororities to sit-ins, their sensenof social conformity shaped the decade.n”The demonstration would be the biggestnsocial event of the semester,” thoughtnSara, as she joined in with her placardnwhich read: ‘Jim Crow Must Go,’ whilenwondering what it meant. No matter.nOne joined in, did one’s thing regardlessnof truth, logic or objective reality. Susie’snhusband, Jeff, on trial for opposing thenwar, learned of his acquittal with dejectionnbecause it meant that the systemnworked; here he was, a professional revolutionarynby choice and vocation, andnthe very equity of the system he wasnbattling threatened to put him out ofnbusiness. But before that, “on Decembern1 (1967) Jeff stood on the steps of SproulnHall and set fire to what he said was hisndraft card but was actually a movie pass.”nThis ultimate in symbolic irony, however,nMs. Davidson, reports without a winknthough it may constitute the most acutenexplanation of the Movement.nAt the end of the book Susie, the mostnradical of the three, confesses: “We werenlike children throwing tantrums. Thentimes were exciting but boy were theynscary … When I see them all with theirnnuclear families, it looks good to me.nWhy don’t I have one?” And from thenvantage point of time, another friendnlooks back and muses at their unmitigatednnerve in trying to change the world whenntheir own lives were in such a mess.nV>hronologically, ten years have passednsince the beginning of the ferment, butnit’s been a very long decade and Tasha,nSara and Susie are tired. They are inntheir early thirties and have already donenenough for several lifetimes. Charactersnand reader share the feeling of too much,ntoo soon. Although Loose Change endsnon a note of happily-ever-after—each girlnpursuing career and emotional attachment,neach ironically searching for stability,nmonogamy, even financial security—manynquestions remain unresolved.nInstead of the traditional route of A to Bnto C, they chose to follow their own pathnof A to Z to B, and one wonders if all thencircumnavigation was worthwhile andnnecessary. It was no doubt an education—nsentimental and otherwise—but the pricenContinued on page 22n”O the ’60’s—the decade eludes us, it shimmers like silver between the colorless ’50s and thenpractical ’70s, and even as this decade clumps to its end we are still looking. Where did it go?”— ThenNew Republic on Loose Change.n”The social revolution of.the Sixties was a crashing sequence of events whose mysteries we maynnever be able to ii\ne” — Satinday Revietv on Loose Change.n”Lost as some of these now over-30 ‘kids’ may still seem, they did in fact change the world . . .”n— Publishers Weekly.n”What does America do to gobble up incipient revolutions . . . Why do our most passionatenrevolutionaries (whether leftist, black or feminist) eventually give up the hope of changing America’snways and turn instead to yogic meditation. Buddhism, ‘born again’ Christianity of Sufism? Why isnAmerica the country of the most extravagant hopes and the most profound disappointments? Doesnthe media really have the power to trivialize and thus destroy every important social movement, orndoes it only seem that way to us? Are changes really occurring at a deeper level?”— The New YorknTimes Book Review on Loose Change.n”The book centers on the difficulty her heroines experience trying to find durable companionshipn. . r — Atlantic Monthly.n”And yet Loose Change ends on a note of optimism, of survival. These women have somehownendured . . !’ — Newsiveek.nnnillnChronicles of Cttlturen