From the Watergate scandal to protests that finally brought an end to the Vietnam War, plus major advancements in women's rights, gay rights, and the environmental movement, the 1970s was a decade marked by political and social change. In terms of popular culture, we can thank the 1970s for Star Wars, disco, The Godfather, bell bottoms, Fleetwood Mac, Ms. magazine, and so much more.
Whether you were alive in the 1970s or born decades after, you're probably aware of the bigger moments that defined the years from 1970 to 1979. Eager to know more? You’re in the right place. Here are some of the best books about the 1970s and some of the most popular best sellers published during the 1970s to give you a better look at this fab, fascinating, and influential era.
Best Listens About the 1970s
The celebrated folk singer and Hall of Fame songwriter opens his audio memoir by proclaiming, "I’m James Taylor, and I’m a professional autobiographer." So begins the story of the first 21 years of his life and breakout success. The six-time Grammy winner takes listeners through the moments and the music that defined his career, including songs like "Carolina on My Mind" (1969) and "Fire and Rain" (1970). Break Shot combines storytelling, music, and performance to create a unique listening experience, bolstered by Taylor's exclusive renditions of his songs, including an unreleased recording of the beloved hymn, "Jerusalem."
The 1970s marked the start of a renaissance for the horror genre. In Paperbacks from Hell, best-selling horror author Grady Hendrix gives listeners a tour through the horror paperback novels of the '70s and '80s, featuring killer commentary and witty insight into the wild stories told during this horror boom. This listen covers well-known authors from the period, including V.C. Andrews, who is famous for her 1979 novel Flowers in the Attic. But Hendrix also looks at forgotten authors, letting you know which of their novels are lost treasures and which are perhaps best left in obscurity.
The story of Jonestown is now infamous—but do you want to know the truth about the events that led to 914 people drinking an elixir of Flavor Aid and cyanide on November 18, 1978? An Audible Original podcast, Escape from Jonestown takes a deep dive with one remarkable former member of Jonestown, the so-called "utopian" society deep in the Guyanese jungle. Tim Carter was a part of the Jonestown inner circle, but before he got completely sucked into Jim Jones's mass suicide plot, Carter fled into the jungle. This is his staggering survival story, and each moment will leave you on the edge of your seat.
The 1970s were a big time for nightlife in New York City. Nightclubs like The Limelight, Tunnel, Club USA, and Palladium were influential across the world, and there was one man who stood behind them all: Peter Gatien. Gatien is an iconic figure who started opening up world-famous nightclubs in the 1970s, starting with The Limelight in 1976. This is Gatien's story in his own words, from the New York City nightclub movement of the 1970s to the excess of the 1980s to the crackdown on night life and the club scene of the 1990s.
American singer-songwriter Patti Smith became an icon of the New York City punk rock movement when she released her 1975 debut album, Horses. And she remains an important figure in music, poetry, and literature to this day. In Patti Smith at the Minetta Lane, you'll hear Smith's story in her own words and voice. This Audible Original audio interweaves reflections and memories from Smith's life with beloved songs from her catalog, performed life by Smith along with Tony Shanahan and her son and daughter, Jackson and Jesse Paris Smith.
Chasing Phil is a gripping true story with all the elements of a topnotch thriller, set in the glamorous side of the 1970s. In 1977, J.J. Wedick and Jack Brennan were two young FBI agents about to embark on the agency's first white-collar undercover sting operation. Their target: Phil Kitzer, a globe-trotting con man. The agents followed Kitzer from Cleveland to Miami to Hawaii, from Frankfurt to the Bahamas, meeting various members of his crime syndicate and people he had swindled every step of the way. Wedick and Brennan played the role of Kitzer's protégés and co-conspirators. While doing so, they came to respect and care for their target, even as they knew his arrest was drawing near.
Soldiers of Science is an Audible Original listen that tells a widely overlooked story about the impact of the Vietnam War. As part of the Doctor’s Draft program, a group of brilliant and dedicated doctors—including a young Anthony Fauci—arrived at the National Institutes of Health, ready to serve their country. As coauthor and narrator Alan Alda, the legendary M.A.S.H. actor, reveals, the members of this program went on to become some of the country's most respected physician scientists. While the Vietnam War was one of America's darkest moments, the Doctor's Draft initiative led to some of the greatest medical breakthroughs in US history.
From noted journalist Garrett M. Graff, best-selling author of The Only Plane in the Sky, an oral history of 9/11 that won the 2020 Audiobook of the Year Audie Award, comes the definitive narrative history of Watergate. Narrated by Graff and Jacques Roy, Watergate explores the full scope of this infamous scandal, from start to finish, through every possible lens. The story begins in 1971 with the Pentagon Papers and culminates with the resignation of disgraced President Richard M. Nixon. Drawing on newly public documents and transcripts, Watergate tells it all, just as it happened in the '70s, from the perspective of the investigators, intelligence officers, intrepid journalists, and informants who played a part in making Watergate one of the most influential political events of the modern era. This audiobook, now available for preorder, is set to release in February 2022.
Set in the 1970s, Rachel Kushner's acclaimed novel The Flamethrowers captures the excitement of the decade in both New York and Italy. The story centers on Reno, a young woman who comes to New York City in 1975, intent on turning her fascination with motorcycles and speed into art, and gets swept up in the art movement in SoHo. She also gets caught up in a love affair with native Italian artist Sandro Valera. When she agrees to accompany her lover on a visit his family home and meet his estranged parents, Reno soon becomes entrenched in the radical design movement sweeping Italy. Richly detailed and in touch with the passion and tumult of the '70s, this novel of awakening is narrated by its author.
Best Listens of the 1970s
Marking Toni Morrison's impressive debut as a novelist, The Bluest Eye was published in 1970 and went on to win the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature. The novel tells the story of 11-year-old Pecola Breedlove, a Black girl living in America who fervently prays for her brown eyes to turn blue, so she can be seen as beautiful and valued by others. Young Pecola's life is nightmarishly difficult, and she imagines that if only she could have blue eyes, in a country where blue-eyed, blond-haired, white-skinned children are perceived as precious and loved, her life would be different. This touching and heartbreaking story is narrated by Morrison herself, adding an additional layer of depth.
An iconic and widely beloved work of fiction, One Hundred Years of Solitude is one of the defining works of the Magical Realist movement. This novel tells the story of many generations of the Buendía family and their connection to the rise and fall of Macondo, a mythical town in Latin America. Written by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude was first published in Spanish in 1967. It made its English debut in 1970, translated by Gregory Rabassa and published by Harper & Row. The novel's influence throughout the 1970s led to Márquez receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. The audiobook is performed by accomplished narrator John Lee.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a 1971 novel by gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. This is the story of Raoul Duke—a character inspired by Thompson himself—and his attorney Dr. Gonzo, who go to Las Vegas together to cover a motorcycle race. But Raoul Duke insists that their real mission on this trip is to find the American Dream. Fueled by every drug imaginable, the two embark on a psychedelic journey that critiques the ridiculousness of American consumerism and greed. Audie Award–winning narrator Ron McLarty does an amazing job portraying the humor and the absurdism of this unique, genre-defining story.
First published in 1977, The Shining cemented Stephen King as one of the horror genre's most important authors. King's third novel and unique take on the haunted house trope, The Shining is set in the Overlook Hotel, an isolated resort in the Colorado Rockies. Jack Torrance takes on a job overseeing the hotel during the months when it is closed, hoping for a fresh start and chance to focus on his writing. But when he moves in with his wife and young son Danny, Jack has no idea of the horrors awaiting him within the hotel's halls. He's not the only one to recognize the dark forces at the Overlook. Danny, gifted with a clairvoyant power referred to as "the Shining," also gets the sense: Something sinister is happening inside the Overlook. Campbell Scott, an actor known for his work in House of Cards and Singles, narrates Kings chilling story of supernatural forces and other demons.
Maxine Hong Kingston’s 1976 memoir, The Woman Warrior revolutionized the memoir genre through the author's weaving of autobiography, history, folklore, and fantasy to tell her personal story of growing up as the daughter of Chinese immigrants in mid-20th century California. Exclusively from Audible, this groundbreaking book is now available as an audiobook for the first time, and it's a unique listening experience. Recently named a Disney Legend for voicing Mulan, accomplished Chinese American actress Ming-Na brings Kingston's story to life in a performance described by Audible listeners as "absolutely superb."
First published in 1979, Kindred is a trailblazing science fiction novel written by a Black woman, Octavia E. Butler, who would go on to win a Nebula and two Hugo Awards. It combines slave memoir, historical fiction, and time travel fantasy to tell the complex story of an African American woman living in California in 1976 and her ancestors. While celebrating her 26th birthday, Dana is abruptly pulled back through time into antebellum Maryland. She saves a white boy from drowning and is then threatened at gunpoint before she finds herself pulled forward to the present. Through the course of the novel, Dana continues to go back and forth in time, encountering the same white man in different moments of his life. Soon, she realizes who he is: the father of her great-grandmother. Dana must keep this young slaveholder alive for the sake of her own existence.
Originally published in 1973, Erica Jong's Fear of Flying was controversial at the time for its portrayal of female sexuality and its role in the development of second-wave feminism. The novel, which has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, tells the story of Isadora Zelda White Stollerman Wing, a 29-year-old married woman and poet. While on a trip to Vienna with her husband, Isadora decides to fly free and indulge in her sexual fantasies. The audiobook version of this feminist classic is narrated by Hope Davis, whose performance perfectly captures the mix of vulnerability, yearning, and desperation Isadora brings to her search for identity and fulfillment.
