Steal This Book

Steal This Book

Steal This Book is a 1970s book written by Abbie Hoffman. The book exemplified the counterculture of the sixties. Hoffman was one of the most influential North-American activists of the late-1960s and early-1970s.

About Steal This Book in brief

Summary Steal This BookSteal This Book is a 1970s book written by Abbie Hoffman. The book exemplified the counterculture of the sixties. Hoffman was one of the most influential North-American activists of the late-1960s and early-1970s. Hoffman used many of his own activities as the inspiration for some of his advice in Steal This Book. It was rejected by at least thirty publishers before it was able to get into print. It sold more than a quarter of a million copies between April and November 1971. In Canada, it was banned by the government. It has since become obsolete for technological or regulatory reasons, but the book iconically reflects the hippie zeitgeist.

The title was picked up by the Yippies, and was widely used by what became known as the \”Woodstock Nation\”. In the book, Hoffman calls America the \”Pig Empire\” and contended that it was not immoral to steal from it. He wrote that the suppression of the book constituted a form of censorship. He was quoted saying, “It’s embarrassing when you try to overthrow the government and wind up on the Best Seller’s List”