Golden Ages that passed me by

I just came across this fascinating slide show of NYT book ads from what I am told was the "Golden Age of Publishing- 1962-73". Golden Age? Where was I? 1962 was the year I graduated from college. 1963: Marriage. Kids born in 1966, 1969, and 1972. 1973 was the year we moved to New Jersey, feeling more than a little dizzy and disoriented after 5 apartments and 3 houses, including outposts in Brooklyn Heights, St. Louis, Rochester, South Bend, and West Hartford. Looking back, it feels (has always felt) that 1973 was the beginning of my life as a grown-up. But what happened during those in-between years? Somehow I lived through them, in a kind of fog, pretty much oblivious to the culture, not to mention the counter-culture. No "golden age" for me, that's for sure!

Did I ever read a book during that time? Not many. So odd, since I've always thought of myself as a reader! Cookbooks, yes. Books on art and architecture (a growing passion that would lead to graduate school a few years later), yes. Stuff about raising kids, no doubt. But literature? History? Politics? Not on my radar then.

I wasn't completely unconscious. As I watch the slide show I do recognize the cast of characters, most of whom I caught up with later. But it's a Golden Age I never really know about. Strange.

Added: OK, to be fair, it was a golden age of book ADS, not of books themselves. Still.