Class of '66 CL

Seeking to challenge the notion that all members of the '60s generation ``raised holy hell as they grooved on acid rock, smoked grass, dropped acid, and fought against authority in general and the Vietnam War makers in particular,'' Lyons interviewed 47 graduates of the class of 1966 at Coastal High School, the fictionalized name of a southern New Jersey high school in the suburbs of Atlantic City. The different chapters-``Vietnam,'' ``The Sixties,'' ``White on Black,'' ``Growing Up Female''-hit all the major topics, and the interviewees come across as honest and frank about their experiences. As subjects, however, they are nearly uniformly bland. The very things that define them-solid, middle class, largely untouched by the social upheavals of the '60s-preclude much variety in their voices, and the author falls into the trap of trying to prove his point in every chapter, so that the subjects often seem chosen because they fit his thesis. The attempt to give voice to a group not often heard is worthy, but a more dynamic approach is necessary to make the result interesting. The author is professor of Social Work at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. (Oct.)