Product Description

It is the seventies, at the height of flower power. Star has just joined Drop City, a hippie commune in sunny California living the simple, natural life. But underneath the drugs, music and transcendent bliss, she slowly discovers tensions and sexual rivalries that threaten to split the community apart. A world away in Boynton, a tiny town in the interior of Alaska, Sess Harder, a pioneer who actually does live off the land, hunting, trapping and fishing, yearns for someone to share the harsh winters with him. When the authorities threaten to close down Drop City, the hippies abandon camp and head up north to Alaska, the last frontier. But neither they nor the inhabitants of Boynton are completely prepared for each other - and as the two communities collide, unexpected friendships and dangerous enmities are born.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94349 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Review
'Boyle's riveting new novel lays bare the raw reality behind the city-dweller's romantic dream of living at one with nature' The Times 'TC Boyle's doorstop of a book will have you rushing to bed early to find out what happens next a gripping book and a timely reminder of the sexism at the heart of the hippy movement' Good Housekeeping

One of America's foremost writers, Boyle's 14 previous works of fiction include The Road to Welville, East is East and The Tortilla Curtain, all of which have been greeted with much critical acclaim and countless literary awards. In this novel he introduces a group of hippies living in California in the early 1970s, their ups and downs, ideals (or lack of them) and failures. It also tells of the very different life of Sess Harder, a man eking out a living in the wilds of Alaska. Poles apart, these two worlds are thrown together, and the ensuing culture clashes, friendships, enmities and sexual politics make for fascinating reading. This is a stunning piece of writing. Evocative, insightful, funny, sometimes harrowing and with a fair share of suspense thrown in for good measure, it holds the reader in a firm grip from start to finish. Boyle gives an interesting view of two iconographic American figures: the Seventies hippy and the wilderness pioneer. Boyle himself spent time after college with a druggy set, but his portrayal of the Drop City 'cats' is far from nostalgic or romantic. He brings into question the ideals of the flower-power generation and their ability to survive. Placing them out in the Alaskan woods leads to some real hilarity as well as to more serious consequences, and Alaska itself is presented neither as a Christmas card idyll nor as a wild and adventure-filled paradise. Throughout, Boyle imparts a sense of impending disaster. Something dire lurks just around the corner, but the reader is reprieved several times. Favoured individuals seem destined to be axed, but the author tantalizingly switches scenes, only later taking away the sword handing above their heads. Drop City deserves to be a bestseller and confirms Boyle's reputation as one of the finest novelists around. (Kirkus UK)

The Times
‘Riveting … lays bare the raw reality behind the city-dweller’s romantic dream of living at one with nature’

Scotsman
'Boyle is America's most acerbic, catastrophist-realist writing today ... Full of pure invention. A glorious read’

Customer Reviews

Favourite novel in years
There are two strands to this book, the hippy bit and the Alaska bit. They weave nicely together. I found the hippy section twee, so hold on till you get to Alaska. I've read T.C. Boyle's short-stories, which are somewhat negative, but this book finds a nice balance. My literary siblings characterise this book as a satire, but I think the writing places nature, character and survival at the centre. There are parallels with Jack London.

California dreamin' on such a winter's day...
I liked the funky cover of this book (two hippies cavorting in the grass), opened it up and discovered I liked the opening sentence even more. Set in 1970, the book charts the meandering journeys of a hippie commune as they’re thrown out of the Californian sunshine into the wilderness of Alaska. The Age of Aquarius is coming to an end, as the differing wills and motives of the commune members surface.

Somehow, the book reminded me of Lukas Moodysson’s film “Together”. Boyle’s take on the far-out philosophies of year ’68 is just as gentle but satirical, though with a more violent twist to it. It doesn’t take long before the story has got you hooked: especially the build-up to the culture clash between the hapless hippies and the outback trappers is terrific. My one criticism is that sometimes plot lines seem to peter out into nothing, which is a shame since most of them could have been developed into something cool.

But hey, what does that matter? Overall, this is a groovy read, man.