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Flower Children
Flower Children
Author: Maxine Swann
From an award-winning writer: an elegant, lively, moving novel that portrays the strangely celebrated and unsupervised childhood of four hippie offspring in the seventies and eighties. — When Flower Children's first chapter was published as a short story in 1997, it announced the arrival of a new literary voice: it won every literary prize ap...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9781594483110
ISBN-10: 1594483116
Publication Date: 6/3/2008
Pages: 224
Rating:
  • Currently 2.8/5 Stars.
 26

2.8 stars, based on 26 ratings
Publisher: Riverhead Trade
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

mom2nine avatar reviewed Flower Children on + 343 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Great premise, dragged in places, scattered in others. what are the children thinking when adults aren't "adult"
jade19721 avatar reviewed Flower Children on + 115 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Did I enjoy it? Not so much. Was it the worst book I ever read. Uh not really, but it's not one I would really recommend. The book had serious potential, but sadly fell short.

The author rambled quite a bit and did not seem to be able to tell the story in any kind of order nor was she able to convey to you exactly who these children were. You get bits and pieces but not enough substance to say WOW.

What you gathered from the book was that their parents were college educated people who chose to live the hippie lifestyle in the 60's. You don't find out why they chose to live this way it's just there. Then it goes off and talks about certain events that happened in the kids lives, but it's boring and not at all intresting.
mommytsunami avatar reviewed Flower Children on
Helpful Score: 1
This book is s-t-r-a-n-g-e. It's as if it was written while the author was high or highly distracted. I read the whole thing in hopes that it would start making sense, but it never did (even though it did start out well). I just hope the next book I plan to read by this author is better!
jules72653 avatar reviewed Flower Children on
Helpful Score: 1
I liked this book and perhaps I'm in the minority. It is a little distracted at times, but then what in the 70s wasn't? It was a very quick read as I finished it in an afternoon. I wish the author would have given us a glimpse into the lives of these kids as adults.
bananapancakes avatar reviewed Flower Children on + 95 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Have to say i just didn't get this book at all. I thought it was all over the place and boring. Read it in one afternoon sitting so it's an easy read.
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lmntree avatar reviewed Flower Children on + 37 more book reviews
The first chapter seemed very chaotic to me, but after reading the next few chapters, I not only became used to the writing style of the author, but I actually began to feel a very deep and real nostalgia for my own childhood and family. The last chapter had me in tears for the too quick passing of time that is growing up. A quick and easy read- well worth the journey!
Readnmachine avatar reviewed Flower Children on + 1474 more book reviews
The four children of Harvard-educated hippies, growing up on a Pennsylvania farm with little supervision and no restrictions, discover as they mature that they want, more than anything else, to fit in with their peers.
justreadingabook avatar reviewed Flower Children on + 1726 more book reviews
Abit of the odd but hard to follow but like the books said it's in the 70's. You really try to connect with this story but since most of us never had any of these experiences it was hard. Eye-opening into the hippie scene and how the actions effected the kids. A good read. Not on the front burner but a good read.
reviewed Flower Children on + 173 more book reviews
Flower Children sets out to give a glimpse into the lives of the other half of the "hippie" family....the children. The prose starts wonderfully and the lyrical writing sucks you in. However, as the book unfolds the changing narrative is a bit annoying and confusing. It is tough to keep track of the timeline and the players. The final chapters of the book felt like a cop-out to tie up the book.

It's a quick read and an interesting look at what one might imagine those without boundaries as children experienced.


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