When was the last time you heard that expression? This was one of the many fabulous phrases in T.C. Boyle’s 9th book, Drop City. TC Boyle has stated that he believes that storytelling is a form of entertainment, and he certainly comes through with this book. The story is set in 1970 and takes place in both Drop City, a California commune where the “cats and chicks” spend their day dropping acid, smoking weed, and balling and the contrasting Boynton, Alaska where the townspeople are battling nature to survive. Eventually the two communities collide when the Drop City commune is kicked off their property by “the man” and they emigrate to Boynton to set up a new utopia.

Drop City Cover

The first half of the book takes place in California and describes this completely irresponsible, carefree living where the main characters (Pan, Star, Marco and Norm) are rebelling against society and basically living without any regard for the outside world. While it appears that this is paradise where no one has any responsibilities besides having sex, listening to tunes and getting stoned, Boyle’s physical descriptions of the commune and its inhabitants demonstrate what can go wrong with communal living. Their is no sewage system so there is crap everywhere, the swimming pool is a green septic tank and the two resident children and many of the adults run around filthy and naked the entire time. Life without any rules or boundaries eventually breaks down when the local government kicks them off the property, and they are forced to leave California.

Concurrently, Boyle writes about Boynton, Alaska and the main characters, Sess and his new bride, Pamela who have also chosen to check out of society. In contrast, they must use their own prowess to survive in a practically uninhabitable world. They live in a cabin that is only accessible by canoe, with no electricity (note that for half the year in Alaska, there is no sunlight and it’s 40 below) and where they have to eat bear, moose and squirrel. I found Pamela to be the most interesting character in the book because she was living in the city with a regular job and made a personal choice to pack it all in to live in the wilderness. Her prior life was never described as difficult or tragic so it is fascinating to imagine what would drive someone to choose to live in the most difficult conditions.

The second half of the book begins when the Drop City hippie bus arrives in Boynton and the clash of societies begins. Forced to survive in very difficult conditions, the best and worst of all the characters comes to light.

Drop City is a funny, entertaining read by a great, modern writer. The book is so well written that it demonstrates that you can write a light, fun read without sacrificing quality. I think sometimes we end up categorizing books as either “trashy” - aka Angry Housewives eating Bon-Bons or “worthy” - aka Pynchon. Drop City shows that there is a middle ground. And hey - it was fun reading a book with nude people on the cover and using the expression “let’s ball.”