Hoffman had trouble finding a publisher for Steal This Book. He insisted the three-word phrase, which had appeared in small print on the back jacket of his earlier book Woodstock Nation, must be the title, even though some publishers would have been glad to print it in spite of its advice for illegal activity, if only it did not tell consumers to steal from them. In all, over thirty publishers rejected it before Hoffman paid to have it published by Grove Press. Even then, many bookstores refused to carry the book, and major distribution chains refused to handle it. Libraries refused to put it on their shelves. In several cases where people committing crimes were found to have Steal This Book among their possessions, prosecutors tried to indict Hoffman as a criminal conspirator.

After a glowing review by Dotson Rader in the New York Times Book...