The book is recording his experiences decades later. How much do you trust his version of events? Why do you feel some people can clearly recall their early years while others can't? Which are you?

The book covers the author's life through his early 20s, but he's recording his experiences decades later. How much do you trust his version of events? Why do you feel some people can clearly recall their early years while others can't? Which are you?

I'm just a few years younger than the author so I clearly remember the Viet Nam War, the assassinations, the music, the unrest, the first man walking on the moon, etc. Those are very vivid happenings of the time that stayed with a young, impressional person. They are strong memories with me. I don't mistrust his recollections although I think one interprets such events according to their own beliefs and upbringing.

Like Marcia, I felt him to be a reliable narrator. I am close to his age, and have many of the same memories.

For the most part I trusted his version of events. He and I are the same age so having lived through the same events, I understand how strongly they can remain in your head. I can very clearly remember things from that Era and other times in my life.

Personality types can determine the level of detail we remember but life experiences also carve details into our memory for critical events. I believe Kanigel did a good job of remembering and he noted when he wasn’t clear on the details. I personally remember my traumatic life events with great clarity but not so much the rest of my life events.

He's describing a time that was very vivid in his life and yes, I trust his memories.

I trusted Kanigel and his memories. Being his contemporary, I remembered many of the historical events in the same way. Plus I sensed in reading a self-honesty that come from him. I think he wanted to be as truthful as possible. I also was impressed with his life memory!

I am about the same age as Robert Kanigel. In general I trusted his recollections of historical events realizing that everyone remembers and interprets things differently. Gore Vidal said that memory is the last time you remembered something - it's layered. He said that memory for him was, "something written over something partially erased."

The political and social unrest events were described broadly and did not seem to deviate from what I’ve read. At the same time, his interpretation of a few of his life events seemed to contradict each other. At one point he wrote how friends, and the world of clubs, teams, and groups were secondary or irrelevant only to mention at another point that he went to Boy Scouts for a couple years, went to summer camp, and was on a rifle team. Some people are very good at recalling the details of events while other readily recall how the event made them feel. I tend to focus on the feeling from childhood/young adult events and miss some of the details that others readily remember.

Overall I did trust the author's recording of events as they affected him in a time that I also lived through. I remember the Vietnam War, the protests, the assassination of President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, the hippie culture, the songs and music. As with all things, our memories of even dramatic events like some of those are colored by where, how we lived and with who we lived, at what point we were in our life, and our willingness to weave them into our lives. Our individual memories of decades ago are always subject to how well we can recall and are often infused with emotions. When we talk about those individual memories no one can usually question what we say-even someone who was there may have a different version.

I clearly and vividly remember events of my youth, possibly too much so. I do think our memories may be colored by later experiences which change our opinions.

I definitely trust that this is the way he remembers his life’s experiences. One remembers primarily how they felt about an event and describes it emotionally that way. I can clearly remember how I felt the day my father sat us down to watch the moon walk. But most of my day-to-day life experiences are unclear until I see a photo of the event.