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Wild Child: Girlhoods in the Counterculture
Tofu casseroles, communes, clothing-optional kindergarten, antiwar protests -- these are just a few of the hallmarks of a counterculture childhood. What became of kids who had been denied meat, exposed to free love, and given nouns for names? In Wild Child, daughters of the hippie generation speak about the legacy of their childhoods.
The writers present a rearview mirror t
...morePaperback, 256 pages
Published
November 16th 1999
by Seal Press
(first published October 26th 1999)
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Short essays by women whose parents were hippies in the groovy days of free love and moving back to the land or onto the commune. Liked the book but found many of the stories bittersweet and a couple downright painful. Some of the parents, in their enthusiam for tuning out, turning on and grooving to their own beat, abdicated their responsibilities as adults and parents. Getting high, making groat muffins and exploring love with many partners wasn't always compatible with raising children safely...more
This is a great anthology for any woman who was a child of the '60's/70's counterculture. I have always felt that I was extremely lucky, yet equally cursed, to have such 'out-there' parents growing up. I felt like such an outsider, but now appreciate more the perspective on life growing up outside the norm gave me. This anthology articulated those same tensions. Reflective, introspective, funny, touching and with a certain sense of pride at being brought up by hippies, these narratives helped me...more
A short quick read, I liked this book. What's it like to have hippie parents, to grow up with extreme permissiveness (is that an oxymoron?)? In the pieces in this edited collection, the answer seems to depend on the parents and the child--sometimes it's wonderful to be so free, sometimes it's crippling to have nothing to rebel against. I liked reading the details about what it was really like back then (most of the women contributors are about my age, born in the early 70s): having no running wa...more
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I read this book in a very short time, enthralled with all the differing monologues which ultimately spoke of the unifying themes surrounding adult women reared in an environment without boundaries. It's interesting to see how these girls responded. Either they themselves still live today with the inability to exert some sense of control over their lives/choices or there ends up being *too* much restriction and thus stifling any even normal experiences these girls so deserve. I appreciated th...more
I don't think I have ever been so grateful for my normal boring parents as I was while reading this book. I was born too late for the "hippie" era, but I can see the appeal of it. The freeness of the community, the getting away from all the conformity, and being yourself, but there are dark sides to this and this book points out so many of them. While I am ok with adults making choices like this, whether they are good or bad, children for the most part have no place in it. Yes, the...more
Nothing captures the spirit of a social movement more than stories told in the voices of those who were there. And in these essays from "girlhoods in the counterculture," we can visualize what it was like and hear the songs and the beat of this unique subculture.
With a foreword by Moon Zappa and essays from various daughters of the "hippie" movement, such as Chelsea Cain, Rain Grimes, Diane B. Sigman, River Light, and others...we can almost experience their lives ...more
With a foreword by Moon Zappa and essays from various daughters of the "hippie" movement, such as Chelsea Cain, Rain Grimes, Diane B. Sigman, River Light, and others...we can almost experience their lives ...more
I had high expectations for this book, as I love counterculture, but what I expected wasn't what it cracked up to be. This book is more of a memoir for women who grew up with hippie parents, and not curious suburbian teenage girls. I wanted this book to come from a historical point of view. No such luck in that department, but some of the stories were decent, anyways.
I picked this up because I wanted to get a better idea of who the people were who I had lived with in Mendocino - their backgrounds and culture. To this end, it did its job. The stories were both familiar and new, and were well chosen by the editor for their range of voice and subject. It's not one I would buy, but makes a great library book.
Another of my favorites. This book is a compilation of stories from women who grew up in the counter culture. Some stories are nostalgic for the 1960s, while others are anything but peace,love, and flowers. Overall though, you get a glimpse of what life was like in the counterculture
Linda
added it
This book so reminds me of my childhood. Then my mother was called a Bohemian. My daughter thinks it is a wierd, not realistic memior. One of my sons says he sees me in the book.
I absolutley loved this book! I related to just about every hippie like childhood story. One of my favorites for sure. It was nice to read that I am not alone in my childhood weirdness.
I picked this book at random from a shelf on the library, and overall, I wasn't disappointed.
A nice selection of essays from the daughters of women who grew up defying expectations. These girls have been lonely, lost, without boundaries, and the majority of essays have a strong focus on how they wish there had been more boundaries in their lives, or particularly poignant memories. This book provides some nice insight into the unstable foundations of these women's lives. Overall, a lo...more
A nice selection of essays from the daughters of women who grew up defying expectations. These girls have been lonely, lost, without boundaries, and the majority of essays have a strong focus on how they wish there had been more boundaries in their lives, or particularly poignant memories. This book provides some nice insight into the unstable foundations of these women's lives. Overall, a lo...more
So far, interesting - I always wonder how children fare in different situations, what are the lasting consequences. Are the author's lives the result of their childhoods? Aren't we all influenced by our upbringing and the lessons learned therein? ? It's always entertaining to illustrate nature vs. Nurture.
Mediocre. A collection of essays and some were significantly better than others. Some really talked about being in the counterculture and others not so much.
This is a quick and mostly entertaining read. It’s a collection of essays by women who grew up in the hippie counterculture of the 60s and 70s.
Interesting stories. Tells stories from varying eras about girls who try to cope being brought up differently then most people are used to.
I enjoyed them.
I enjoyed them.
An okay book. Hippie children and their hippie adventures. Guess you gotta be a child of hippies to really appreciate it.
Wonderful stories. I liked best the ones in which the daughters had come to peace with thir parents best intentions.
I really enjoyed this. I envied some writers, pitied others. Cain's piece, I think, was the most pointed and sobering.
I could not love this book more, being a hippy kid myself. Talk about reading something that made me feel NORMAL! lol. And if you weren't raised on sprouts and tempeh, read it anyway bc it's funny and interesting and you'll learn something. :)
Rereading this one. Explains so much about hippie children like myself and the two world views we straddle.
Carrie Pirmann
added it
essays
Could have been much better-- too short, and some pieces were not very strong. Still, it was a fascinating collection.
I really liked this book. Although I was not raised by hippies or in the counterculture, I could still relate to the girlhoods in this book. It was fun, moving and challenges the idealistic views I have had about that era. It was also cool to see the bios of the contributors in the back of the book and compare them to the childhoods they revealed to the reader.
Allison
rated it
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in personal stories fo the 1960-70s counterculture
This is an anthology compiled by Moon Unit Zappa. She gathered stories from women that were raised by counter-culture parents. I love this book almost more than anything I've ever read. The stories were really entertaining, and it was interesting to see who loved their upbringing and who hated it and why.
Sophia
rated it
Recommends it for:
sociology/psych students, hippies, fans of the '60/70s, feminists, girls
A lovely collection of counterculture snapshots. Each writer's story gives a witty, intelligent and even poignant account of the ups and downs of growing up in an alternative, "hippie" environment. I highly recommend this collection to bohemian's and non-bohemians alike!
My essay, "Strange and Wonderful," appears in this anthology.
Alex
marked it as to-read
Amy Herren
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Olivia
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Moon Unit Zappa (born September 28, 1967) is an American actress, musician and author. She goes by the name Moon Zappa; "Unit" is her middle name.
Zappa was born in New York City, the eldest child of Adelaide Gail Sloatman, who worked in business, and musician Frank Zappa.
She has appeared in numerous films and performed on numerous albums with the Zappas, Julie Br...more
More about Moon Unit Zappa...
Zappa was born in New York City, the eldest child of Adelaide Gail Sloatman, who worked in business, and musician Frank Zappa.
She has appeared in numerous films and performed on numerous albums with the Zappas, Julie Br...more
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