What do radicals, religion, race, riots, restaurants and Rufus Thomas all have in common? According to this provocative first novel by veteran music journalist Ira Robbins, they are all defining elements of the 1960s. At times dishearteningly bleak, Kick It Till It Breaks is rich with offbeat characters vividly drawn against a tableau of antiwar violence. Unlike most stories of the time, the author - who nonetheless claims a high regard for its political and cultural achievements - is unsparing in his depiction of dedicated idealists failing to uphold their ideals. The author uses slang,...