Book Description

A “wide-ranging and incisive anthology” of articles and essays by the eminent journalist and antiwar activist from the 1960s to the twenty-first century (Publishers Weekly). David Harris is a reporter, an American dissident, and, as these selected pieces reveal, a writer of great character and empathy. As an undergraduate, he gained recognition for his opposition to the Vietnam War and was imprisoned for two years when he refused to comply with the draft. Throughout his long career, his writing has championed outsiders, the downtrodden, and those who demand change. These eighteen pieces of long-form journalism, essays, and opinion writings remain startlingly relevant to the world we face today. This career-spanning collection follows Harris from his early days as a prominent leader of the resistance to the Vietnam War, through regular contributions to many publications, including Rolling Stone and the New York Times. Born in Fresno and elected student body president of Stanford University in 1966, Harris has always had an undeniably Californian point of view—he imagines the future with an open heart and mind and pursues stories out of genuine curiosity, embedding himself among striking farmworkers, marijuana growers, the homeless on LA’s skid row, and occasionally, redwood trees. Inspiring, clarifying, and fearless, his abiding and lucid patriotism insists that our country live up to its own ideals.