This was hilarious and sad. 2023 and aging hippies in an assisted living facility in Mission Bay, CA take over the facility to protest the loss of their independence. From the naked sock hop to the involuntary acid trips this is a sympathetic look at the plight of the boomers who thought they had the answer to everything in the summer of love and now find themselves in the winter of their discontent. I read it in 24 hours. That should tell all of you who know my schedule a bit about how I liked it. Now I need to go rub some Ben Gay on my aching neck.

This book is pretty funny. It stars a wild cast of elderly hippies living together in the Mission Pescadero old-folks home, who revert back to the ways of the 1960s in the San Francisco area. They are fed up with the rules, the children shoving them into nursing homes, the doctors constantly dosing the patients to keep them from truly living life, and conservators stealing their money. While this book is a satire, it really does open a window into a growing problem in this country, in how we treat our elders. These residents have had enough with authority, and are taking over! Watch out! Rowdy sock-hops, Viagra induced orgies, and a gun wielding octogenarian are just a few silly scenes from this book.

Very funny!

Not really great writing, but the premise is fun. Hippies and Boomers who are now ready for nursing home care. Some of the characters are a hoot and others make for some thought provoking moments. It is set in 2022 and "Jenna Bush has the highest approval rating of any president in 20 years". Many references to various musicians, news events, etc from the late 60s and early 70s. So while it wasn't "literature" it was a fun read.


"We are the invisible minority, cast aside by a culture aimed at satisfying only pubescent desires. How can you treat the aged as nonentities, knowing where you yourself are going?"

"Rocky is reminded of that old question:What's it all about? Answer: The Hokey Pokey"

"Now widen your daughter's lack of compassion to include her entire generation. They all wish us well, but they'll do whatever it takes to keep us out of sight."

More cheers and chants. "Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh, AARP is gonna win!"

The year is 2022. It is over 50 years since the summer of love. So what has happened to the flower children/hippies? A bunch of them are in an "old folks home" near San Francisco at the mercy of a cruel establishment - corrupt conservators, a sadistic administrator, a doctor compelled to keep them drugged up and compliant, and children who think it is better for mom or dad to be put away where they "can't hurt themselves". Then there is a revolt, and the former children of the '60s put all of their civil disobedience and anarchy skills to good use.

There are lots of laughs in this book, but I found it more poignant than funny. For instance: "Rocky thinks about how arrogant they were back then, she and Grace and the whole tribe, how they knew old people were wrong and what the kids were doing was right and that it would never end. Of course, here they are, fifty-five years down the road, doing the same damn thing, so on one level it had lasted, in a twisted way. The difference is the love children never expected to grow old. Rocky supposes no one expects to grow old, but the children of the '60s were worse than other generations. Old age came as such a shock. You'd think sooner or later someone would tell the young what to expect and the young would listen. But then what? The social contract would crash and burn if the young knew what was in store for them."

Yes, there are laughs. There is irony. But there are also many touching moments, too.

I got a kick out of it....admittedly part of it was that the setting is where I live.

This book needs to be made into a movie. The soundtrack alone would kill. "Born to be wild" for the opening sequence with the golf cart. "I just want to celebrate" for the closing sequence. Cast Alan Arkin in the lead. Get Drew Barrymore to play herself.

The author got a little carried away with the interrelations of the inmates (waaaayyyyyy too much coincidence, you'd think there were only about two dozen people of that generation in the world--ever), but otherwise he captured so much of the fear, confusion, aggravation, compulsion, desperation, and exasperation that is getting old...and he did it with humor and grace.

Wasn't a huge fan. I found the fact that the author based the book off of the debauchery that goes on inside a nursing home slightly disturbing... and not in a good way. Also, while I know quite a bit about the music scene in the 60s/70s, I think a lot of the content was directed towards the people who actually lived it. I'm going to have to say that this book is more geared towards the older generation, which is fine, but given that I am not a part of that "scene," I found it difficult to relate. I did, however, like the author's writing style. Had to give a star for that. The other star was given because I did like the references to the classic rock/political activism. All in all, though, I found it hard to stay absorbed in the story, as the book started slow and didn't focus on much of a predetermined plot.

A little close t home...aging hippies, protests, sex, drugs and geritol.
Very funny (in a sardonic kind of way) and well written.

that old age is scary, but one might still get to act up a bit...

Boring, cutesy, silly, only about 10% clever and just downright slogish...