The 1960's is an era often romanticized as a time of
freedom, discovery and expression -- a decade when
young people cast off the shackles imposed by older
generations and found their own voice. But, as T.C.
Boyle shows in his novel Drop City, freedom from the
constraints of society isn't all it's cracked up to
be.
Drop City follows the denizens of the titular
society, a hippie commune in California. The group
lives in drug-and-sex-soaked bliss, until a number of
frighteningly real incidents threaten to tear the
society apart. First, there's an alleged rape of a new
commune member that causes resentment and mistrust in
the group. Then, an accident and ensuing legal investigation
forces the group to flee to Alaska.
In the early parts of the novel, Boyle intercuts
between scenes of the commune and the life of Sess
Harder, a tough, lonely man braving it in the wilds of
Alaska with his new wife, Pamela.
When the commune members arrive, it understandably
causes a shakeup in the quiet Alaskan wilderness and
further tests the loyalty of some of the more
unreliable group members, most notably Ronnie (aka
Pan), a resentful young man given to violent
behavior.
Boyle realistically follows the conflict as it comes
to a head. What's remarkable about the book is Boyle's
willingness to present all of his characters as real
people. It's interesting to see how two
commune members, Star and Marco, gradually start to
doubt their lifestyle and begin adapting decidedly
"square" behaviors like monogamy. Despite their best
intentions, these communes didn't really work, the
book tells us, because societies generally don't work
without order. But Boyle doesn't really make fun of
his characters, misguided though they might be
(although the Drop City leader, Norm Sender, is
depicted as having few admirable qualities). His
characters emerge as flawed human beings whom we can't
help but sympathize with, even if we know their way of
life can't last.