An Ending leading to a Beginning (and a Review)

21st Century Hippies closes with a few case studies and a few brief profiles. Through this final stretch, Vowles recovers from the lull that was the Poverty and HIV/AIDS chapters. Not that their content was lacking, but the delivery of that content was bogged down by statistics which seem to have boggled Vowles' mind while writing as much as they bogged down my reading.

Nonetheless, Vowles' conversational tone returns to its full here, making the final chapters of the book as easy to read as the opening ones. Those patches where it becomes convoluted (but not because of statistic overload) are either due to what seems to be the book's overarching attempt to sound academic as well as casual, or an errant bit of punctuation. These patches, are few and far between after the book proper begins, however.

Throughout this book, Vowles writes with an easy conviction, and his copious references show that he is well versed in his subject. For some of his case studies and profiles he also draws on his own experience and work history. This is an excellent move, since it gives the reader a sense of what actually happens on the ground as an activist.

However, as with much of the other great information that Vowles' provides, he does not give copious amounts of detail. He certainly knows his stuff and has a great deal of experience to draw from, but as is suggested by his opening ambition to write about all of activism as represented by his five categories, this book is more of a general primer than an in-depth study.

With that in mind, it is an excellent introduction to activism, and Vowles' "take-action" steps are great jumping off points for those interested. His numerous footnotes also make it easy for readers looking to learn more to do so.

Kevin Vowles' 21st Century Hippies is dogged by some consistent editorial errors ("underscored" being used for "understated" being the worst), but on the whole these are minor issues that do not distract from Vowles' cause. His style and knowledge come together to create a great introductory book for anyone interested in activism, but unsure of where or how to start.