the novel moves between this group and their problems, to another group of corporate American life dropouts - hard drinking homesteaders, trappers, bush-pilots, tough examples of the Last American Men (and one quite likeable woman) in the wilderness of Alaska. as you may guess, the two groups are destined to meet. Norm, commune founder and father-figure, has inherited land and a cabin in this wilderness from his uncle. the hippies acquire a bus (not quite Merry Pranksters, but On The Bus) for most of them to travel in, and set off in a convoy up thru the Northwest to Alaska. someone (was it someone well known? was it my writing teacher in college? can anyone help me out here?) said if a gun appears in the story it damn well better get used before the story ends. guns appear. guns get used. not, as you might expect, in a showdown between hippies and American Men, but in a violent confrontation between two of the Alaskan frontiersmen. this situation takes over the latter part of the novel, after it culminates the story just kinda peters out. everyone loses interest.
Boyle is said to be a satirist, this is called, by many reviewers, a satire. i don't think so. ( Tom Wolfe writes satire: A Man in Full, Bonfire of the Vanities. ) Drop City tells its story through a small cast of characters within the larger groups of stereotypes, but the story lacks the wit, the sharp social knife-edge of true satire. i read it quickly and with enjoyment, but, as after eating doughnuts, i wondered if it was really worth it. you can read the first chapter here, and see if you're hooked. if so, it's out in affordable paper now.
2 comments:
Based on your synopsis and review, this book doesn't really grab my fancy. I looked at the first chapter fleetingly and it doesn't change my opinion. But thanks for the heads up.
muse, you're right...it's totally skippable. i'd read so much about it, i had to check it out. so many books, so little time.
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