When we were considering literature arising from the hippie experience a while back, one of the surprises came in the reader comments as we recognized the predominance of non-fiction rather than novels. (Who says literature must be exclusively fiction, anyway?)
Still, there are four novelists who recently resurfaced in my memory, and I think they deserve consideration for their efforts from the time:
- Edward Abbey: The Monkey Wrench Gang, etc.
- Ernest Callenbach: Ecotopia
- John Nichols: The Milagro Beanfield War, etc.
- Tom Robbins: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Still Life with Woodpecker, etc.
Noticing that these are all male, and that three focus heavily on the socio-political aspects of the movement, I have a nagging suspicion that we’re overlooking a range of female authors weighing in on their side of the experience. Any more nominations?
Jnana's Red Barn 
How about Joan Didion?
A wonderful writer, especially with her acerbic vision. Somehow, I tend to think of her essays first. Thanks for the reminder of her fiction.
I’m not sure, but wouldn’t Ursala Le Guin have to be on that list? The Lathe of Heaven is mythic in my experience–in spite of, or perhaps because of, the PBS adaptation that followed it a decade later. Much of the U of MN sociology department spent a week or two discussing its meaning!
Well, that definitely puts her on the list! Actually, she covers so much in her works. Amazing, really.
Somehow, I just thought of Ishmael Reed, from the Afro-American side of the experience, and Amy Tan, from the Chinese-American. I knew there had to me more!