Boyles witty, incisive novel drop city, the two groups consider each other like alien cultures, as if abbie hoffman and grizzly adams had accidentally crossed paths and purposes. It is 1970, and a downattheheels california commune devoted to peace, free love, and the simple life has decided to r. The group lives in drugandsexsoaked bliss, until a number of frighteningly real incidents threaten to tear the society apart. In america tc boyle is a highly respected novelist and short story writer. The book has been awarded with national book award finalist for. This is a surprising book, a rich, allusive, and nonsentimental look at the ideals of a generation and. Star has just joined drop city, a hippie commune in sunny california living the simple, natural life. The main characters of this fiction, seduction story are. Flower power may be a thing of the past but the 60s counterculture occupies center stage in t.
The first edition of the novel was published in december 1993, and was written by t. For best effect, read drop city in a beanbag chair. Boyle has earned wide acclaim and an enthusiastic following with such adventurous, inimitable novels as the tortilla curtain, drop city, and the road to wellville. I loved my escape to a hippie commune and then later to. The authors command of the language is both masterful and inventive. The bestselling, penfaulkner awardwinning author of the tortilla curtain, t. Bobo,hippie, girl, loon, saucy dogs,joe bosky, sess harder, pamela geographical settings. Boyle is the author of more than a dozen novels, including drop city, which was a finalist for the national book award, and worlds end, winner of the penfaulkner award. Drop city book washington county cooperative library. But from boyles wry perspective, theyre two sides of the same coin, idealists committed to escaping the material world and living off the unspoiled land. The book was published in multiple languages including, consists of 704 pages and is available in paperback format. Drop city a new york times bestseller and finalist for the national book. But underneath the drugs, music and transcendent bliss, she slowly discovers tensions and sexual rivalries that threaten to split the community apart. This novel, a finalist for the national book award, concerns a group of hippies living in the drop city commune in sonoma, california, in 1970.
Tc boyle packs a busload of hippies off to alaska in drop city. But after reading boyles superb novel, drop city, im actually glad that i missed out on this misguided movement. The novel, set in 1970, describes the social evolution of a group of countercultural free spirits, not unlike the inhabitants of the real drop city community in colorado, from which the novel apparently takes its name. Coraghessan boyle born december 2, 1948, is an american novelist and short story writer. Boyle shows in his novel drop city, freedom from the constraints of society isnt all its cracked up to be. Boyle 2003, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. Viking, 444p boyle has a wonderful eye for the comedy of imposture when the selfdeceived themselves practice deception. Boyle is the author of more than ten novels, including worlds end winner of the penfaulkner award, drop city a new york times bestseller and finalist for the national book award, and the inner circle. Drop city is a book, above all else, about adventures. Drop city follows the denizens of the titular society, a hippie commune in california. Boyle is the author of eleven novels, including worlds end winner of the penfaulkneraward, drop city a new york times bestseller and finalist for the national book award, and the inner circle. John haines, the stars, the snow, the fire chapter 16 relevant characters. The existential experiment turns to shit, literally.
Set in the 1970s, boyle entertains readers with the denizens of drop city, a counterculture california commune that welcomes anyone wanting to live off the grid, use drugs, and practice free love. You could say that drop city is a book about hippies, a surprisingly sober insight into the inner monologues of a gaggle of fullfledged flower children as they celebrate free love under the summer sun of california and in the dead serious beauty of the alaskan middleofnowhere. Boyle as he is better known by his fans, is a famous american author and short story writer. Boyle started his writing career in the mid1970s and since then, he has written around 14 novels and over 100 short stories. He was born on december 02, 1948 as thomas john boyle in peekskill, new york, united states. A drop or two of patchouli oil and janis on the stereo couldnt hurt, either. It is unfortunate that this mischievous, captivating tale is conveyed through a voice both rasping and nasal. You never know what to expect when you pick up the latest t.
Boyle has spun an even more dazzling tale that will delight both his longtime devotees and a legion of new fans. Start a free 30day trial today and get your first audiobook free. I always thought boyle was a hipster, and his most recent novel, drop city, confirms it. But even his most ardent admirers may be caught off guard by his ninth novel, for boyle has delivered something completely unexpected. His story collections include tooth and claw as well as the human fly more about t. He has also written numerous shortstory collections. Free download or read online stories pdf epub book. Boyle a group of stoned, freeloving hippies set up a commune in backwoods alaska and discover that nature is a lot crueler than they dreamed.
Coraghessan boyle offers proof that he has become one of americas most prolific, gifted storytellers. The main characters of this short stories, fiction story are. Fresh on the heels of his new york times bestselling and national book award nominated novel, drop city, t. Dc is the riproaring tale of a 1970 california commune. He won the penfaulkner award in 1988, for his third novel, worlds end, which recounts 300 years in upstate new york he was previously a distinguished. Boyles drop city is a wonderful novel, and one that benefits from being read aloud. I dont know much about contemporary fiction, and im not a boyle expert either, though ive read most of his novels and stories as theyve come out. The novel, set in 1970, describes the social evolution of a group of countercultural free. Since the mid1970s, he has published sixteen novels and more than 100 short stories. Drop city is the name of a commune in sonoma, california. After a disastrous summer solstice celebration, a decision is made to move. Drop city is not a satire or a nostalgic look at the sixties, though its evocation of the period is presented with a truth and clarity that no book on that era has achieved.
Boyles witty, incisive novel drop city, the two groups consider each other like alien. Boyle has proven himself to be a master storyteller who can do just about anything. Boyle is hailed as americas most imaginative contemporary n. His most recent story collections are tooth and claw and the human fly and other stories. The first edition of the novel was published in 2003, and was written by t.
Boyles fiction is known for its wit, biting satire, historical sweep and verbal pyrotechnics. It is the seventies, at the height of flower power. Many american novelists aspire to be historians of their nation, but tc boyle is unusual in taking odd footnotes and bizarre marginalia as his. It is 1970, and a downattheheels california commune devoted to peace. The california commune that gives the novel its title is in full flower, providing dropouts from the. This is a surprising book, a rich, allusive, and nonsentimental look at the ideals of a generation and their impact on todays radically transformed world. Life is here equally in sunlight and frost, in the thriving blood and sap of things, in their decay and sudden death. Drop city ist schon ein ganz ordentliches kaliber, mit richtig umfang, aber jede seite verdient es, gelesen zu werden. The novel takes place in 1970 and alternates between the tale of a california i graduated from high school in 1968, the height of the freelovesummeroflovehippie movement. The group of openminded freelovers and drugabusers soon come to be known as drop city, but beneath the nonchalant veneer characterizing the group. Its obvious throughout that plenty of research was done in creating drop city from the histories of quite a few famous, nowdefunct communes.