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The Revolt of the Cockroach People
The further adventures of "Dr. Gonzo" as he defends the "cucarachas" -- the Chicanos of East Los Angeles.
Before his mysterious disappearance and probable death in 1971, Oscar Zeta Acosta was famous as a Robin Hood Chicano lawyer and notorious as the real-life model for Hunter S. Thompson's "Dr. Gonzo" a fat, pugnacious attorney with a gargantuan appetite for food, drugs, and life on the edge.
In this exhilarating sequel to The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, Acosta takes us behind the front lines of the militant Chicano movement of the late sixties and early seventies, a movement he served both in the courtroom and on the barricades. Here are the brazen games of "chicken" Acosta played against the Anglo legal establishment; battles fought with bombs as well as writs; and a reluctant hero who faces danger not only from the police but from the vatos locos he champions. What emerges is at once an important political document of a genuine popular uprising and a revealing, hilarious, and moving personal saga.
Before his mysterious disappearance and probable death in 1971, Oscar Zeta Acosta was famous as a Robin Hood Chicano lawyer and notorious as the real-life model for Hunter S. Thompson's "Dr. Gonzo" a fat, pugnacious attorney with a gargantuan appetite for food, drugs, and life on the edge.
In this exhilarating sequel to The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, Acosta takes us behind the front lines of the militant Chicano movement of the late sixties and early seventies, a movement he served both in the courtroom and on the barricades. Here are the brazen games of "chicken" Acosta played against the Anglo legal establishment; battles fought with bombs as well as writs; and a reluctant hero who faces danger not only from the police but from the vatos locos he champions. What emerges is at once an important political document of a genuine popular uprising and a revealing, hilarious, and moving personal saga.
262 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
About the author
Oscar Zeta Acosta
3 books90 followers(April 8, 1935 – disappeared 1974) was an American attorney, politician, minor novelist and Chicano Movement activist, perhaps best known for his friendship with the American author Hunter S. Thompson, who included him as a character the Samoan Attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in his acclaimed novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
November 29, 2007
This is the second book written by Acosta, the real Chicano radical lawyer on which Hunter Thompson based the Samoan attorney in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and about whom Thompson wrote so eloquently in The Great Shark Hunt. Acosta was a mad genius writer and fighter for justice, and this is his continuing story, before he went underground and disappeared. Neglected masterpiece.
February 3, 2015
My research into the Chicano Moratorium march in LA in 1970 led me to this book. I did not know of Acosta or that he was the model for Hunter S. Thompson's lawyer sidekick in "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas." I only knew that this was the first novel I'd come across to address the marches by a Mexican-American. And while I've read many first-person accounts of that time, this one feels the truest, even though it's fiction. Acosta does little to disguise his characters: Roland Zanzibar instead of the real-life journalist Ruben Salazar, Peter Peaches instead of real-life sheriff Peter Pitchess. This is not a book with a plot, but a book with movement, following the Chicano struggle in LA in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Acosta is a master of dialogue and just the right descriptive detail, and he pulls no punches when it comes to law enforcement, racism and his own weaknesses. The book is written as a comedy in many ways, which is what makes it powerful. It stays fairly true to actual events, as far as I can tell, and should be required reading for everyone living in LA - though I can't imagine it ever will be, given the raunchy sex scenes and excessive drug use. That said, I'm going to share this with many young people I know, because I think it's a powerful document about a time, a place and a group of people - abused, frustrated, motivated, angry people - who tried to make a difference, and whose actions (some right, some wrong) shed light on the racial imbalance of the city.
PS Here's a great link in Round 1 of the Best LA Novel Ever - The Revolt of the Cockroach People vs. Oil, which I also loved, although I agree with the outcome here ...
http://www.laweekly.com/arts/best-la-...
PS Here's a great link in Round 1 of the Best LA Novel Ever - The Revolt of the Cockroach People vs. Oil, which I also loved, although I agree with the outcome here ...
http://www.laweekly.com/arts/best-la-...
April 20, 2020
Hade tyvärr för höga förväntningar på denna bok! Ändå skriven av Hunter S Thompsons legendariska advokat, men tyvärr saknas mycket av den galna ton som präglat Thompsons litteratur och det är vän egentligen mitt fel att förvänta mig att den ska finnas där även i Acostas litteratur. Större delen av boken utspelar sig i rättssalen, men där återfinnes inte heller den härligt typen av courtroom drama utan mest är det rätt tråkigt och överflödigt.
October 6, 2013
I really don't know how I ended up reading this book. I wish it was some awesome story but it kind of started as a joke as one of the only books one of my friends has ever read. He ended up letting me borrow it and I put off reading it for as long as I could. I expected it to be some type of R.L. Stine novel by the cover and the title. I really had no idea what to expect from this book.
The introduction by Hunter S. Thompson really gets the book started in the right direction. Thompson seems to glorify Acosta almost like a legend. Usually I don't read too much into praise for an author or book but compliments from Thompson speaks volumes when compared to the type of work that Thompson himself has accomplished.
The Revolt of the Cockroach People starts right in the middle of a demonstration. Acosta vividly describes the scene in his own very unique voice. It seems like a lot going on right at the beginning but Acosta slows down the tempo in the next chapters allowing the reader to catch up on his life and how he became a crucial part in the Chicano movement.
Strangely, I felt connected to Acosta. Maybe it was how he felt like he wasn't always in touch with his Mexican culture. Or maybe I saw him almost how I look at my Dad. Regardless, Acosta is definitely not a perfect person. He is degrading towards women, homosexuals, and even towards other races. But as a time period piece it kind of works and makes sense. I do not agree with his outlook but I find it completely interesting to see his mindset in that time and place.
The end of the book is heavy on court cases. It is not the most exciting thing but it gives a nice feel to the book.
I appreciated the opportunity to read this book. This is not the type of book I typically read but it shed a lot of light on my culture. It definitely aligns with the stories I have been told by my Dad growing up. The entire time I felt like this book was much like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but with more direction and a Chicano voice.
The introduction by Hunter S. Thompson really gets the book started in the right direction. Thompson seems to glorify Acosta almost like a legend. Usually I don't read too much into praise for an author or book but compliments from Thompson speaks volumes when compared to the type of work that Thompson himself has accomplished.
The Revolt of the Cockroach People starts right in the middle of a demonstration. Acosta vividly describes the scene in his own very unique voice. It seems like a lot going on right at the beginning but Acosta slows down the tempo in the next chapters allowing the reader to catch up on his life and how he became a crucial part in the Chicano movement.
Strangely, I felt connected to Acosta. Maybe it was how he felt like he wasn't always in touch with his Mexican culture. Or maybe I saw him almost how I look at my Dad. Regardless, Acosta is definitely not a perfect person. He is degrading towards women, homosexuals, and even towards other races. But as a time period piece it kind of works and makes sense. I do not agree with his outlook but I find it completely interesting to see his mindset in that time and place.
The end of the book is heavy on court cases. It is not the most exciting thing but it gives a nice feel to the book.
I appreciated the opportunity to read this book. This is not the type of book I typically read but it shed a lot of light on my culture. It definitely aligns with the stories I have been told by my Dad growing up. The entire time I felt like this book was much like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but with more direction and a Chicano voice.
February 5, 2018
This was an eye opening account of a man, who's people I am co-citizens of the US with, but who's existence I as previously unaware of. The Chicano people lived for generations before Columbus, within the Southwest borders of the current United States, they are not Mexican, though they share some common haritage, but when a general in Mexico City sold their land to the United States, they had had the option to leave their family land and move to Mexico, or remain in the United States, as citizens, to be treated more as beasts of burden or inconveniences; to be constantly moved out of the way for white men, much like other native Americans, but not to be given, even the cursory dignity of having reservation land set aside for them. Zeta calls his people"the cockroach people", because they have been shattered and stepped on ever since their land was sold from under them.
Zeta tells his own story of a Chicano lawyer in the 60s, seeking equality for his people but constantly fighting against lack of recognition, the oppressive nature of the status que, constant prejudice, and confusion of his movement with others quest for equality in white America.
The story is captivating, the courtroom scenes do not follow the usual rules, as a lawyer, due to his belief in the inherant recism within the pegan system, he often spent nights in jail during his cases for his contempt of court and for back talking judges and witness that he saw as lyers and conspirators. Though, as a man, Zeta was a terrible role model, as an underdog among underdogs and as a leader of a movement that refused to follow the rules that bound him, he made me root for him!
Zeta tells his own story of a Chicano lawyer in the 60s, seeking equality for his people but constantly fighting against lack of recognition, the oppressive nature of the status que, constant prejudice, and confusion of his movement with others quest for equality in white America.
The story is captivating, the courtroom scenes do not follow the usual rules, as a lawyer, due to his belief in the inherant recism within the pegan system, he often spent nights in jail during his cases for his contempt of court and for back talking judges and witness that he saw as lyers and conspirators. Though, as a man, Zeta was a terrible role model, as an underdog among underdogs and as a leader of a movement that refused to follow the rules that bound him, he made me root for him!
April 18, 2022
my mother-in-law recommended this to me and i am so glad she did.
i fucking DEVOURED it.
the description of Zeta's life is so fascinating and so fucked.
i fucking DEVOURED it.
the description of Zeta's life is so fascinating and so fucked.
December 11, 2019
3 1/2 stars
February 8, 2024
freakazoid
April 13, 2009
Out in the Youtube world, the only Acosta video you will find is a multi-part series where he reads about the murder, while in the custody of the Los Angeles Police Department, of young Chicano Robert Fernandez. The Fernandez incident is only one of a handful of arbitrary injustices that poor Chicanos suffered during the 1960's. It is one, of a few, that Acosta manages to get down on print. What Acosta achieves, though, through this wild, trippy, turbulent book is to hint at the true history of Chicanos in the United States. This (sad) history, which may be true for ALL minorities in the United States, is a history of general oppression, constant subordination, interminable punishment at the hands of the status quo.
Acosta's running metaphor is the cockroach. This creature, Acosta writes, that is all over the place, and that everybody likes to step on. That is "us": Chicanos, blacks, women, "indians," etcetera. While only a few instances of injustice--those Acosta had the fate of being directly associated with, as a Chicano defense lawyer--are documented in this book, it becomes clear that what the author is narrating is a microcosm of the Chicano experience in general. Since the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Chicano history has been one instance of being trampled by the white world, after another. In one shining moment, Acosta's narrators explains that city Chicanos don't get the general disdain that the Establishment has for "cockroaches." However, the narrator says, rural Chicanos get it, and so do the "vato locos," from the urban areas. The rest, Buffalo Brown suggests, are under the illusion that powerful white people view them as anything less than cucarachas.
Decades after the original publication of this book, the overt sexism in this book can really come off rank. While Acosta clearly had a beef with racism, he was an out-and-out, and completely naive sexist. His book from beginning to end, is chock-full of degrading references, and descriptions, about women. Overwhelmingly, women are reduced to "tits and asses," and while this may still fly with a lot of readers, especially males, for all readers no longer interested in idealizing the "player" figure , all the macho-rhetoric, and near-porn, is obnoxious and distracting.
Another expression of Acosta's sexism is his narrator's penchant for going on the road alone after his trials. A pattern is established, where after completing a brilliant trial defense, Buffalo Z. Brown--the book's protagonist--escapes somewhere to, purportedly, find himself. One time he jets for Acapulco, where he spends his days smoking dope, having sex with prostitutes, and hanging out with his pimp-brother. On the one hand, Brown seems entitled to this type of escapade. After all, as radical Chicano defense lawyer, he bears enough responsibility on his shoulders to crush any lesser person. In this way, he is alienated from the community he defends because he sees things, as an inside man, that they don't. But how does getting high and hiring prostitutes heal this type of psychic torture? It may satisfy his body, but what about his soul?
The unabashed sexism notwithstanding, this is still a book well-worth reading. In spite of his vices, Acosta was still a brilliant lawyer, he still had a gargantuan, and admirable, passion for justice, and this book is still a precious document to put together the history of the Chicano Movement, as well as to better appreciate the value of the sacrifices of the activists from that era.
Acosta's running metaphor is the cockroach. This creature, Acosta writes, that is all over the place, and that everybody likes to step on. That is "us": Chicanos, blacks, women, "indians," etcetera. While only a few instances of injustice--those Acosta had the fate of being directly associated with, as a Chicano defense lawyer--are documented in this book, it becomes clear that what the author is narrating is a microcosm of the Chicano experience in general. Since the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Chicano history has been one instance of being trampled by the white world, after another. In one shining moment, Acosta's narrators explains that city Chicanos don't get the general disdain that the Establishment has for "cockroaches." However, the narrator says, rural Chicanos get it, and so do the "vato locos," from the urban areas. The rest, Buffalo Brown suggests, are under the illusion that powerful white people view them as anything less than cucarachas.
Decades after the original publication of this book, the overt sexism in this book can really come off rank. While Acosta clearly had a beef with racism, he was an out-and-out, and completely naive sexist. His book from beginning to end, is chock-full of degrading references, and descriptions, about women. Overwhelmingly, women are reduced to "tits and asses," and while this may still fly with a lot of readers, especially males, for all readers no longer interested in idealizing the "player" figure , all the macho-rhetoric, and near-porn, is obnoxious and distracting.
Another expression of Acosta's sexism is his narrator's penchant for going on the road alone after his trials. A pattern is established, where after completing a brilliant trial defense, Buffalo Z. Brown--the book's protagonist--escapes somewhere to, purportedly, find himself. One time he jets for Acapulco, where he spends his days smoking dope, having sex with prostitutes, and hanging out with his pimp-brother. On the one hand, Brown seems entitled to this type of escapade. After all, as radical Chicano defense lawyer, he bears enough responsibility on his shoulders to crush any lesser person. In this way, he is alienated from the community he defends because he sees things, as an inside man, that they don't. But how does getting high and hiring prostitutes heal this type of psychic torture? It may satisfy his body, but what about his soul?
The unabashed sexism notwithstanding, this is still a book well-worth reading. In spite of his vices, Acosta was still a brilliant lawyer, he still had a gargantuan, and admirable, passion for justice, and this book is still a precious document to put together the history of the Chicano Movement, as well as to better appreciate the value of the sacrifices of the activists from that era.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2011
Acosta chronicles the fight against authority of Buffalo Zeta Brown. It's fiction in some ways but mostly autobiographical of the author himself. Lawyer, politician and revolutionary, he leads the Mexican-American movement in LA by organized marches, courtroom battles and violence. As a character, Brown is honest with his sexual vices and drug abuse problems. Drugs is one factor that keeps him detached from the people he represents. Sometimes, he runs from the chaos with drugs. In addition, Portrayals of women are harsh from the men's perspective partly because this novel is imbued with so much of the manly cowboy spirit. Though some would say that women are merely portrayed as sex-objects, it could be argued that these women use sexuality to manipulate men. You can consider a lot of things about this book in that way. There are people who seemingly add flame to the fires only to use it to their advantage. The mayor, for example, tells Buffalo that the African-Americans didn't get anything from marches and protests until they rioted in Watts. He therefore suggests that violence is the answer to their problems but really, he understands that violence will ultimately harm the movement.
It is possible that Acosta is commenting on the nature of violence in LA at the time. This is parallel to the Vietnam war and the counter-culture movement. There is a scene where he speaks before UCLA and USC students ironically advocating peace, love and drugs. He then chastises the students for missing the point of revolution. Tying the counter-culture movement to Vietnam, he compares this revolution to war. It is a win-lose situation and that's what's on the line. The cockroaches are the ambitious innocents that face being squashed by the greater authority. He refers to the Chicanos as cockroaches, so with the people of Vietnam, and even Robert Kennedy who once had cockroach dreams. Though they are vulnerable, the cockroaches are everywhere and cannot be rid of.
Yet it is the cycle of violence that Brown breaks from. The marches, court cases and burnings don't end and so he assesses his role by leaving.
It is possible that Acosta is commenting on the nature of violence in LA at the time. This is parallel to the Vietnam war and the counter-culture movement. There is a scene where he speaks before UCLA and USC students ironically advocating peace, love and drugs. He then chastises the students for missing the point of revolution. Tying the counter-culture movement to Vietnam, he compares this revolution to war. It is a win-lose situation and that's what's on the line. The cockroaches are the ambitious innocents that face being squashed by the greater authority. He refers to the Chicanos as cockroaches, so with the people of Vietnam, and even Robert Kennedy who once had cockroach dreams. Though they are vulnerable, the cockroaches are everywhere and cannot be rid of.
Yet it is the cycle of violence that Brown breaks from. The marches, court cases and burnings don't end and so he assesses his role by leaving.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 21, 2011
This book was not what I expected when I stopped my sister-in-law from giving it to Goodwill. It was a textbook of hers for a Chicano Studies class, and I thought it would be a dry, academic book. I didn't look at the front cover close enough to see that it had a forward by none other than Hunter S Thompson, or read the back to see that the author was the template for Thompson's Dr. Gonzo.
This is the story about the rise of Chicano pride and militarism in East LA during the 60's. It's about a man struggling to come to terms with an identity he has shunned for a long time. And, like any good book approved by Hunter S Thompson, it features all of the sex, drugs, and rock & roll you could hope for.
Oscar Zeta Acosta (or Buffalo Z Brown) was one-of-a-kind. A Chicano lawyer who grew up picking in the California fields, he was awakened to the plight of his fellow "cockroaches" upon returning to LA during the anti-war and civil rights movements. He took cases only he could, protecting people who were demonstrating for their right to be equal participants in an unequal system; people who had come to the end of their rope and were increasingly turning to more violent methods. Despite guilt at being singled out due to his education and profession, Acosta/Brown also resorts to violence to lash out at a system that won't listen and won't budge.
This wasn't a subject/book I expected to enjoy, but it's conversational tone, too-crazy-to-be-fiction characters, honesty in dealing with a turbulent time (both in society and in the author's head), and, let's face it, the sex, drugs, and rock & roll made this an excellent read. I highly recommend this to a fan of Thompson's, someone who likes studies in other cultures, or simply looking for a little fun with their knowledge.
This is the story about the rise of Chicano pride and militarism in East LA during the 60's. It's about a man struggling to come to terms with an identity he has shunned for a long time. And, like any good book approved by Hunter S Thompson, it features all of the sex, drugs, and rock & roll you could hope for.
Oscar Zeta Acosta (or Buffalo Z Brown) was one-of-a-kind. A Chicano lawyer who grew up picking in the California fields, he was awakened to the plight of his fellow "cockroaches" upon returning to LA during the anti-war and civil rights movements. He took cases only he could, protecting people who were demonstrating for their right to be equal participants in an unequal system; people who had come to the end of their rope and were increasingly turning to more violent methods. Despite guilt at being singled out due to his education and profession, Acosta/Brown also resorts to violence to lash out at a system that won't listen and won't budge.
This wasn't a subject/book I expected to enjoy, but it's conversational tone, too-crazy-to-be-fiction characters, honesty in dealing with a turbulent time (both in society and in the author's head), and, let's face it, the sex, drugs, and rock & roll made this an excellent read. I highly recommend this to a fan of Thompson's, someone who likes studies in other cultures, or simply looking for a little fun with their knowledge.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2008
I read this back in 2003. Here is what I wrote in my journal at the time:
>>I just finished reading it. The book is a sequel to his previous The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, which based on my enjoyment of the one I just finished, I will most definitely try to find the previous book. The book was 262 pages long including an introduction by Hunter S. Thompson and afterword by Acosta's son. The book is set in 1960s Los Angeles during the height of the Chicano civil rights movement. The protagonist, Buffalo Zeta Brown, is a lawyer who at first seems to know little of the movement and wanted to write a story. He soon becomes involved with the movement, defending Chicanos in court as well as leading marches and protests. The pacing of the book is good; it was a fast and engaging read, written in first person point of view. It has humorous moments as well as moving moments. The little blurb on the back of the book calls Zeta a reluctant hero, and he was, but his strength is that when called upon, he did what had to be done, and in the process had a wild ride along the way. I strongly recommend this book.<<
>>I just finished reading it. The book is a sequel to his previous The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo, which based on my enjoyment of the one I just finished, I will most definitely try to find the previous book. The book was 262 pages long including an introduction by Hunter S. Thompson and afterword by Acosta's son. The book is set in 1960s Los Angeles during the height of the Chicano civil rights movement. The protagonist, Buffalo Zeta Brown, is a lawyer who at first seems to know little of the movement and wanted to write a story. He soon becomes involved with the movement, defending Chicanos in court as well as leading marches and protests. The pacing of the book is good; it was a fast and engaging read, written in first person point of view. It has humorous moments as well as moving moments. The little blurb on the back of the book calls Zeta a reluctant hero, and he was, but his strength is that when called upon, he did what had to be done, and in the process had a wild ride along the way. I strongly recommend this book.<<
May 27, 2009
Near the end of Revolt of the Cockroach People, Oscar Zeta Acosta, the hero of his own book, describes himself as "the bully, Buffalo Bullshit Brown, el Zeta, the hot-shot lawyer". This is not self-deprecating irony. It is autobiography.
We, the audience, are supposed to be as enamored with "Zeta" and his "accomplishments" as he seems to be, but, sorry, I have little use for an autobiography about a self-appointed hero of the Chicano movement whose revolutionary impulses find outlets only in bullyish lawyering and bomb-throwing and whose book celebrates drug consumption, chauvinism, homophobia, child molestation and fraternization with members of the Manson cult.
I guess I could charitably say that Acosta's book is not written for me -- if I were a character in it I would most likely be described as a faggoty redheaded gabacho prick. But I'd like to know who except the author himself could possibly identify with this book? Sure, its antics are shocking, but what lesson is there behind them? What heart? This book is little more than literary masturbation.
We, the audience, are supposed to be as enamored with "Zeta" and his "accomplishments" as he seems to be, but, sorry, I have little use for an autobiography about a self-appointed hero of the Chicano movement whose revolutionary impulses find outlets only in bullyish lawyering and bomb-throwing and whose book celebrates drug consumption, chauvinism, homophobia, child molestation and fraternization with members of the Manson cult.
I guess I could charitably say that Acosta's book is not written for me -- if I were a character in it I would most likely be described as a faggoty redheaded gabacho prick. But I'd like to know who except the author himself could possibly identify with this book? Sure, its antics are shocking, but what lesson is there behind them? What heart? This book is little more than literary masturbation.
January 22, 2009
this book is a memoir of the chicano liberation struggle in the late 60's in L.A. oscar zeta acosta was the chicano movement's official (though initially unwitting) lawyer and the man who hunter thompson traveled to Vegas with in 'Fear and Loathing,; as well one of the main characters in thompson's 'Strange Rumblings in Aztlan' (the often ignored but super-brilliant companion piece to Fear and Loathing'). acosta is a self-styled comic and tragic figure, winning huge victories in the L.A. courts, inciting riots, giving grand speeches, but ultimately disappearing, his body never to be found. (the former is chronicled in the book, not the latter.) i'm really into the figure of the revolutionary lawyer and if you are too, then this would be of interest.
January 26, 2009
I abslolutely hated this book. I read the first three chapters, and I was so disgusted by the author's portayal of female characters as being mainly sex-objects, that I had to put it down. Also, within the first 3 chapters, the characters drop roughly 20 F-bombs.
I was forced to read this book by my College English professor in order to pass his class. I asked if it would be at all possible to read something with less cussing and sexual conotations, and he said "no."
I do not recomend this book to anyone. It is written highly in romantic style, with the author bouncing from story to story, never following one main point. If you come from a Romantic background (Spanish, French, Italian, ect.) Then you might be able to understand this book. But for anyone coming from a North American or British-style way of writing or explaing, you will be completely lost.
I am returning this book to Barns & Noble, I will not keep it on my shelf.
I was forced to read this book by my College English professor in order to pass his class. I asked if it would be at all possible to read something with less cussing and sexual conotations, and he said "no."
I do not recomend this book to anyone. It is written highly in romantic style, with the author bouncing from story to story, never following one main point. If you come from a Romantic background (Spanish, French, Italian, ect.) Then you might be able to understand this book. But for anyone coming from a North American or British-style way of writing or explaing, you will be completely lost.
I am returning this book to Barns & Noble, I will not keep it on my shelf.
October 26, 2007
This is a great book to learn about the Chicano Movement in the sixties. The 'real' Movement (filled with doubt and mistakes) that Chicanos today don't want to acknowledge. Its told from the point of view of one of the lawyers who represented many Chicanos arrested during the movement and helped organize alot of the events... yet he isn't a saintly Cesar Chavez, rather an overweight slob who questions himself and the movement... its far more real life and for once i could relate and understand the movement in a way that MECHA doesnt care to remember. The writing is similar to Hunter S Thompson (who the author was friends with) and is written as fiction but most of the characters are based off real life individuals who were apart of the movement... plus it has got to have the best title ever.
January 12, 2012
Well. Dr. Gonzo looks mighty different when he's scheming with revolutionaries and unleashing five kinds of hell in a courtroom than when he's bathing with grapefruit and begging his chum to toss a Jefferson Airplane-blaring radio into the overflowing tub. Even with his unabashed love for the ladies and unorthodox approach to lawyering (not that I'd expect anything less from the high-powered mutant once portrayed as a 300-pound Samoan), this tale offered me a much more flattering impression of the Great Brown Buffalo.
Unsurprisingly, my WASP-centric public-school education seems to have glossed over East LA's Chicano riots. Otherwise this book might not have been the first time it dawned on me that the racial majority has been fighting a bilingual America for years. (Strange, did White Guilt always taste this spicy?)
Unsurprisingly, my WASP-centric public-school education seems to have glossed over East LA's Chicano riots. Otherwise this book might not have been the first time it dawned on me that the racial majority has been fighting a bilingual America for years. (Strange, did White Guilt always taste this spicy?)
March 9, 2015
I have never read anything like this. Acosta is truly a phenomenal writer, and honestly just all around bad-ass.
And I know that one of the cardinal sins when analyzing literature is thinking the narrator and the author are the same, but Mr. Buffalo Brown is so like what Acosta seems like, it was very very hard to keep the two separate.
He manages to blend fiction with history seamlessly, making the two difficult to differentiate. Buffalo Zeta Brown takes his place at the forefront of the Chicano Revolution of East LA. This was a history I had never been exposed to - and I have lived in Los Angeles for some time. To find locations that I had been to become the scenes of strikes and chaos in The Revolt of the Cockroach People was infinitely interesting.
I will definitely be reading more of Acosta's work.
And I know that one of the cardinal sins when analyzing literature is thinking the narrator and the author are the same, but Mr. Buffalo Brown is so like what Acosta seems like, it was very very hard to keep the two separate.
He manages to blend fiction with history seamlessly, making the two difficult to differentiate. Buffalo Zeta Brown takes his place at the forefront of the Chicano Revolution of East LA. This was a history I had never been exposed to - and I have lived in Los Angeles for some time. To find locations that I had been to become the scenes of strikes and chaos in The Revolt of the Cockroach People was infinitely interesting.
I will definitely be reading more of Acosta's work.
January 23, 2011
In an odd way this book reminded me of the writings of Charles Bukowski (one of the all time greats as far as I'm concerned) in that it detailed the knife-edge lives of those on the cusp of oblivion in California, specifically, Los Angeles. Similar, again, to Bukowski (though maybe not Acosta's intent) the politics seemed irrelevant, almost incidental.
More than anything (and here, unlike Bukowski) this is a novel about a search for solidarity, identity, and essentially a sense of 'place' in the world. Bukowski didn't care, he was content in isolation. Acosta though, seemed greatly haunted by this lack, and seemed to do everything he could to fill it, or at the very least distract himself from it.
More than anything (and here, unlike Bukowski) this is a novel about a search for solidarity, identity, and essentially a sense of 'place' in the world. Bukowski didn't care, he was content in isolation. Acosta though, seemed greatly haunted by this lack, and seemed to do everything he could to fill it, or at the very least distract himself from it.
November 15, 2015
When I first read this book I was a bit confused about its outlandish scenarios. I wasn't sure if this was a fictional account of the counterculture 70's or a legit memoir. By the second time, years later I realize that he was a unapologetic crazed man. He held a deep contempt for the systematic oppression of racist America. He didn't so much attacked the system as he through tantrums and disdain at authority figures. This is a good look at a specific group of Chicano "militants". It's a reminder that many revolutionaries of the 60's & 70's were young confused and contradictory characters. Overall it's a story of people with nothing to lose lashing out the best way they know how.
April 21, 2008
Not once while I was in school did I ever hear about the struggles with civil rights of Mexican-Americans or any other races for that matter other than that of black and white which is quite sad because our world is not black and white but made up of many shades of brown too.
This book isn't very long but it embodies a large story, a struggle for equal rights and fair treatment. Stories we've heard over and over again but this time written from an insider of a movement. Not just any insider but the infamous Mr. Oscar Zeta Acosta none other than Hunter S. Thompson's attorney and friend.
This book isn't very long but it embodies a large story, a struggle for equal rights and fair treatment. Stories we've heard over and over again but this time written from an insider of a movement. Not just any insider but the infamous Mr. Oscar Zeta Acosta none other than Hunter S. Thompson's attorney and friend.
August 8, 2008
I have listened to Oscar read a story from this book and it captivated me beyond belief. Oscar was a Chicano attorney mostly in the L.A. area in the 60's and 70's. His background and stories will grab hold of you during the read a well after. He was last seen by his son boarding a boat either in Mexico to come to the USA or visa versa, I can't recall. He was never seen again. Some think he was shot in a drug deal gone bad and others believe he is on an island somewhere planning a revolution. You decide.
January 28, 2009
As appealing to me as an LA litigator as it is a social rhapsody of a moment in "Mexican-American" (Aztlan?) history. It's a lighter read on a heavy subject. You don't get the sense that Zeta knew what was happening as it was happening or knew what he wanted to do with the book as he wrote it--aside from a perfunctory closing that could be seen as self-aggrandizing. But that would not be inconsistent with the character of the author as described here and that character is stupendous... entertaining... and maybe inspiring.
January 9, 2015
A larger than life figure such as Zeta Brown deserves to be put on film. There seems to be a mystery around the veracity of Acosta's involvement in the book and, with the disclaimer citing the book as fiction yet being labeled as an autobiography doesn't help solve any of the mystery. Regardless, the novel/biography is a romp in East L.A. and knee deep in revolution in a highly tumultuous decade. Told with pathos, comedy, and sincerity, you can't help but root for and against Buffalo Brown, somehow admiring him for all his flaws and irreverance yet fearful of him in a way.
August 26, 2012
I was introduced to the book in college. It was one of many novel we had to read in our English class. This book is about the civil right of Chicano's back in the 60's when they did march for their rights. This was the era when Dr. King marched for the civil rights for all minority. It opened my eyes in respect to those who stood up for what they believed in.
I was just a child doing this time. After reading this I was very happy I read it. Plan to read it again.
I was just a child doing this time. After reading this I was very happy I read it. Plan to read it again.
August 12, 2007
I have never laughed so hard in my whole life. Hunter S. Thompson's "Samoan lawyer", made famous in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas", has some serious writerly chops of his own.
November 5, 2018
Good stuff. Salazar would later have a building named after him at a college. He was killed by cops while at a demonstration protesting the extraordinarily high numbers of Hispanic servicemen being killed in Vietnam.
August 12, 2007
I wanted to read this because I love Hunter's work so much. A fan of gonzo I really got my fix here. tumultuous times for chicano's in LA the Brown Buffalo stands up for his people.
December 10, 2007
My first read of 2007...great period piece covering the Brown Power Movement of the late 60s / early 70s.
June 22, 2009
Loved this book.
However, the sexist and homophobic comments that Oscar Zeta Acosta makes epitomizes what is wrong with our social movements.
However, the sexist and homophobic comments that Oscar Zeta Acosta makes epitomizes what is wrong with our social movements.
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