Ringolevio is a classic American story of self-invention by one of the more mysterious and alluring figures to emerge in the 1960s. Emmett Grogan grew up on New York City's mean streets, later washing up in sixties San Francisco and becoming a leader of the anarchist group known as the Diggers. The Diggers, devoted to street theater, direct action, and distributing free food, were in the thick of the legendary Summer of Love, and soon Grogan is struggling with the naive narcissism of the hippies, the marketing of revolution as a brand, dogmatic radicals, and false prophets like tripster Timothy Leary. Ringolevio is an enigmatic portrait of a man and his times to set beside Hunter S. Thompson's stories of fear and loathing, Norman Mailer's The Armies of the Night, or the recent Chronicles of Bob Dylan, who dedicated his 1978 album Street Legal to the memory of Emmett Grogan.

About the Author

Emmett Grogan (c.1943-1978) was called a "Superman of the Underground" by The Times (London), and was the founder of the Diggers. On April 6, 1978, the thirty-five-year-old Grogan was found dead on a subway car in New York City, possibly of a drug overdose. Peter Coyote is an actor, activist, novelist, songwriter, and Emmy-winning voice-over artist. After a short apprenticeship at the San Francisco Actor's Workshop, he joined the San Francisco Mime Troupe, where he became a prominent member of the San Francisco counterculture community and a founding member of the Diggers. His memoir is entitled Sleeping Where I Fall.

Reviews

Grogan, one of the original ``Diggers,'' who maintained ``free stores'' for the poor in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury during the late 1960s, here offers what PW judged ``a compelling autobiography. . . . Grogan grips the reader with his bizarre odyssey and his insights into the New Generation and some of its famous personalities.'' QPB selection. (July)

"The best and only authentic book written on the sixties underground." -Dennis Hopper
"Of all those activists, Hopper thought the most interesting was the late Emmett Grogan, who ran the Diggers, a group that gave away food and clothing. Hopper thinks that Grogan's romanticized autobiography, Ringolevio, is the best book dealing with the '60s. The title was a New York street game 'of life and death.' 'Grogan thought that anybody who ever played that game would learn their position in life, ' Hopper said. 'He was out of New York, studied film making with Antonioni. He was a jewel thief, a heroin addict and then came to San Francisco and started the Diggers. He had a lot of charisma.'" -"The San Francisco Chronicle"
"Emmett Grogan was a wonderful storyteller, and "Ringolevio "is a great book." -Jerry Garcia
"It wouldn't be surprising if Emmett Grogan-'60s underground hero, prime mover of the Digger movement in San Francisco-were to come back to life. To know Grogan-a