Fiction 1972

August 1914 by Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn

Historical fiction of pre revolution defeat of Russia by Prussians in the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg. After moving to the USA, Solzhenitzyn republished the book in 1984 adding over 300 pages that had been suppressed by the Soviet Union. It won a Pulitzer Prize the following year. Review of August 1914

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream  by Hunter S. Thompson

The most successful Gonzo Journalist novel of them all with Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo traveling too Las Vegas to report on a motorcycle race and a prosecutors conference on narcotics and dangerous drugs. Illustrated by Ralph Steadman. The book can best be described in the begriming passage - “We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, laughers, screamers and some other goods". Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame finally made a successful movie of the book in 1997 starring Johnny Depp. Fear and Loathing in Loas Vegas, a dangerous book

Watership Down by Richard Adams

A popular anthropomorphic fantasy novel about a group of rabbits led by Hazelnut who have to find not only a new home after their warren is destroyed by human encroachment, but new female rabbits to find a future. It was loosely based on the story of the authors friends fleeing the Nazis in Holland in 1944. The book was rejected 13 times before it found a publisher. It went on to become a mega bestseller with Brits considering it the 42nd greatest novel of all time. It became a successful movie and song in 1978. Watership Down book review

The Word by Irving Wallace

A novel which finds a new gospel written by James, the brother of Jesus in which Christ lives through the crucifixion and goes on with his ministry. Needless to say it disrupts the religious views of the times. Reminiscent of today's Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. Review of The Word at Wiki

The Odessa File by Frederick Forsyth

Odessa is the code name for an organization hiding and protecting former NAZI war criminals. A thriller taking place in the 1960s follows a German reporter who stumbles into the conspiracy to find a former SS concentration-camp commander. Made into a popular movie starring Jon Voight and Maximillian Schell in 1974. Book Review of The Odessa File

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

A short whimsical horror story of suburban Connecticut housewives whose husbands are eliminating them and replacing them with zombie like robots. Made into a popular 1975 movie starring Katherine Ross. Book review of The Stepford Wives

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - Roadside Picnic
Isaac Asimov - The Gods Themselves
Italo Calvino - Invisible Cities
Taylor Caldwell - Captains and the Kings
Angela Carter - The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman
Brian Cleeve - Tread Softly in this Place
Roald Dahl - Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Robertson Davies - The Manticore
R. F. Delderfield - To Serve Them All My Days
Günter Grass - From the Diary of a Snail
James Herriot - All Creatures Great and Small
Georgette Heyer - Lady of Quality
George V. Higgins - The Friends of Eddie Coyle
P. D. James - An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
Dan Jenkins - Semi-Tough
Oe Kenzaburo - The Day He Himself Shall Wipe My Tears Away
Carl Jacobi - Disclosures in Scarlet
Frank Belknap Long - The Rim of the Unknown
Robert Ludlum - The Osterman Weekend
John D. MacDonald - The Scarlet Ruse
David McCullough - The Great Bridge
Barry N. Malzberg - Beyond Apollo
Vladimir Nabokov - Transparent Things
Chaim Potok - My Name is Asher Lev
Mary Renault - The Persian Boy

Comedy 1972

Best Comedy Recording: FM and AM - George Carlin

The transitional album that moved George Carlin from the TV mainstream to the hippy version of Lenny Bruce. The AM side of the album are routines he made popular on television while the FM side were routines he would soon refine to the hip comedy icon he was. The routine "Shoot" became the infamous Seven Dirty Words you cannot say on TV.

Non Fiction 1972

The Best and the Brightest by David Halberstam

Reflections on the origins of the Vietnam War. The title refers to the Kennedy Administration, how the young academics and intellectuals got us into the mess no matter their fancy educations. Review of Best and the Brightest at wiki

The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder

Anabaptist theologian Yoder argues that the New Testament is a lesson of radical progressive politics. A social contract to cure social ills and a position of non violence and pacifism. Harshly refuted by the predominate American Christian values of that day and today. Extensive review of The Politics of Jesus

Gilgamesh, A Verse Narrative by Herbert Mason

The most popular translation of the epic Babylonian tale of the great King Gilgamesh. One of the first works of literature. Quick review at Powell's Books

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Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan by Carlos Castenada -

Open Marriage: A New Life Style for Couples by Nena and George O'Neill

1972 Tony Awards (theater)

Best Play: Sticks and Bones by David Rabe
Best Actor Play: Cliff Gorman, Lenny
Best Actress Play: Sada Thompson, Twigs
Best Supporting Actor Play: Vincent Gardenia, The Prisoner of Second Avenue
Best Supporting Actress Play: Elizabeth Wilson, Sticks and Bones
Best Director Play: Mike Nichols, Prisoner of Second Avenue

Literary News 1972

Nobel Prize for Literature: Heinrich Böll

German novelist who disdained the NAZIs when he served as a German soldier in World War II. One of the most popular post war German writers his body of work disdains conformity and the authority of corporate, political and church power.

1972 Nobel Prize for Literature:Heinrich Böll

The Pulitzer Prize:

Fiction: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
Drama: (No Award)
History: Neither Black Nor White by Carl N. Degler
Biography or Autobiography: Eleanor and Franklin by Joseph P. Lash
Poetry: Collected Poems by James Wright
General Nonfiction: Stilwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945 by Barbara W. Tuchman

All 1972 Pulitzer Prizes