'It is the seventies, at the height of flower power. Star has just joined Drop City, a hippie commune in sunny California devoted to peace, free love and living the simple, natural life. For Star and her companions Drop City is utopia, a place free of the restrictions of the outside world. 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 lives 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, a place where they can live as they choose, without fear of the authorities. 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.'

Definitely an epic. I can't even imagine being that cold!

A '1001...' book going travelling.

pammykn - US

arugh48187 - INDIA

bilbi - FRA

NICNIC2 - UK
Tubereader - UK

No special rules or conditions - just manners!

Off to pammykn in US in Monday's mail. Enjoy!

Thanks -- look forward to reading.

Thanks for sharing this book. I like this author and glad to have the chance to read another of his books. I'll be sending off to ARUGH48187 today w/ The Immoralist.

04/13/08
TITLE/AUTHOR: DROP CITY by T. C. Boyle
RATING: 4/B
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Fiction/2003/444 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: Stand Alone
TIME/PLACE: 1970's/California & Alaska
CHARACTERS: Star/hippie from the East living in Drop City, CA; Sess Harder/living off the land out in the Alaskan bush
FIRST LINES: The morning was a fish in a net, glistening & wriggling at the dead black border of her consciousness, but she'd never caught a fish in a net or on a hook either, so she couldn't really say if or how or why.

COMMENTS:
03/20/08 rec as a bookcrossing ring/ray. Enjoyed the views of the era Late 1960's/early 1970's and the hippie/back-to-nature, etc. movement. Liked the forthright way of telling the story -- not sugarcoating but looking at the whole picture and getting a view of the communal life warts and all so-to-speak -- the (un)sanitary conditions, the let's get away from society but then not taking responsibility for your own welfare at times. Have only read a few Boyle books but do think he does a good job of showing the contrasts -- the California commune trying to transplant itself to Alaska amongst the Back to the Bush enjoy the wilderness life.

Received today in my mailbox.

I didn't think I was going to like this one as the whole commune, free love, and Kool-Aid laced with acid is not my cup of tea. But surprisingly enough, I ended up liking it. I wasn't entirely enthralled until Sess and Pamela showed up. The whole Alaska thing added a whole other dimension to the story that really fleshed it out and made it interesting. I always have liked survival stories and putting a bunch of hippies in the middle of a frozen wasteland (for nine months anyway) was certainly a story about survival. I liked Sess and Pamela best of course with Marco and Star a close second.

I've often wondered if I could ever make it living off the land and I must admit that I don't think I could hack it. It sounds like an awful lot of work, but I guess if you have a choice between work or starve, the answer is pretty clear. Then again I suppose I could bust my ass for three months so I could laze about and read for the other nine. Putting it that way, it might not be such a bad deal.

Thanks for sharing.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailng off to bilbi who is next on the list. Happy reading!

Received today !
What a huuuuge book ! I'm crazy /o\
I'll do my best to read it before 2009, just kidding... I hope ;-)
Thanks for sharing !

I can't tell why I didn't finish the book...

Well I was enjoying the first part and was looking forward to getting to Alaska with characters but a event happens in the book and I just froze.

I know that I shouldn't have stop for this minor event inside the book but I just can't go on.

I must say that Boyle's writing is really intense. I was thrilled to read Water Music by the way.

Don't need to tell me : I know that I'm a weird reader ;-)

NICNIC2 asks to be skipped, I'm waiting for Tubereader's address now

Thanks

This book was waiting for me on my return from holidays. As I am the last in the ray, it's going to go a bit down on my TBR pile.

Thanks cat207 for sharing and bilbi for sending it through!

I'm finally picking up this book and starting to read it today. Cat207, thanks a lot for your BIG patience during this time (I know I was last on the list, but still, I've had the book forever...).

I finally finished this book. I am so sorry it took me so long to get to it and then to read it, but life has been eventful and other rings and rays have taken priority....

Well, what can I say about the book? I was not too much looking forward to reading it (that is probably why it has stood in my TBR for so long) because I did not enjoy so much the other book I had read from TC Boyle. Then there was the topic of the book: hippies, taking drugs, etc. which I thought I would not like. And then I started reading the book, and it caught me! I didn't read it very fast cos it is so big I could not carry it around with me everywhere, but I really liked it!

As one of the previous readers, Sess and Pamela were my favourite characters, but the others too...

Thanks so much cat207 for sharing!

I will be keeping this one for my forever announced but never put into practice 1001 books bookbox.

Adding the book to Shroffland’s and ApoloniaX’ Global Village Virtual Bookbox .

The book has been posted to KiwiinEngland who is the lucky winner of the draw for this book from the Global Village VBB.

Happy reading!

WOW! Thank you for sending this large paperback all the way from Luxembourg (I'm really keen to visit this place in the future). It's great to have a well travelled book, and I'm really interested in reading it.