The Cookbook: Coming of Age in Turbulent Times

An astute posthumous memoir from Powell (Becoming an Emotionally Intelligent Teacher) centers around the book for which he is most famous—The Anarchist Cookbook. A 19-year-old Powell wrote the book, “a collection of how-to recipes for a variety of illegal activities—from growing pot plants on your windowsill to making homemade bombs in the bathroom,” in 1969. To set the Cookbook in the “earlier age both in terms of the cultural context out of which it came, and in terms of the development of its author,” Powell details his upbringing on Long Island, N.Y.; his “alienated, angry” adolescence spent protesting the Vietnam War; and living in the “tremendously exciting, turbulent” political culture of New York City’s Lower East Side. Powell explains that shortly after the book’s publication he began to ponder whether “violence [was] a desirable or effective means to constructive social change.” Powell admits, “I regret writing the book,” and he went on to become an educator of children with emotional and learning needs throughout the world, until his death in 2016. Powell’s thoughtful memoir serves as a fascinating look at 1960s counterculture.[em] (June) [/em]