Dear Mr. Fantasy

Book excerpt: The author was a college student in California during the '60s, heyday of psychedelia, then moved on to Swinging London and photographed such supergroups as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who. His sensitive memoir of those years evokes vividlythe essence of a generation that "welcomed Mr. Fantasy into our lives with a sense of joy and celebration.'' Although Russell acknowledges that many people were burned out by the '60s (indeed, he knew some of the famous casualties), he nevertheless believes that the personal and social changes spawned by that turbulent decade were necessary. ``In retrospect, people often seem embarrassed by that time,'' he writes. "But, really, so much was accomplished.'' Russell tells many entertaining stories about working with the artistocracy of rock; his anecdotes unite with more than 300 of his splendid photographs to create a detailed history of an extraordinary period in popular musicand to pay eloquent tribute to "the spirit that moved us all.'' October 29 -Publishers Weekly.