Coming-of-age in the 60s
December 4, 2014 2:45 PM Subscribe
I'm looking for novels that are about, or mention in a significant way, growing up in urban 1960s America. Give me all the books you know with lots of silly detail about cars, music, sports and fashion!
Bonus points if the book touches on...
- not a counterculture/hippie perspective, but middle-of-the-road mainstream
- blue collar or barely-middle-class environment
- (European) immigrant background
I like literary books that are not too experimental, but genre/YA would be OK too.
Bonus points if the book touches on...
- not a counterculture/hippie perspective, but middle-of-the-road mainstream
- blue collar or barely-middle-class environment
- (European) immigrant background
I like literary books that are not too experimental, but genre/YA would be OK too.
Best answer: Starting in 1968 a fantastic book about three families in Boston: Common Ground.
posted by ewiar at 2:48 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ewiar at 2:48 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The works of SE Hinton might be of interest. I liked, That was then, this is now.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:49 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:49 PM on December 4, 2014
Best answer: The Wanderers - Richard Price
The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton (even if you've seen the movie several times, you should read the novel)
posted by Ufez Jones at 2:50 PM on December 4, 2014
The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton (even if you've seen the movie several times, you should read the novel)
posted by Ufez Jones at 2:50 PM on December 4, 2014
Best answer: I haven't read it, but knowing the quality of Bryson's other work, and with the blurb saying it talks about the 60's, I reckon The Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid might hit the spot. (It's autobiography, though, so might not be appropriate.)
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:11 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:11 PM on December 4, 2014
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is an excellent, hilariously entertaining book and you should absolutely read it. However, if I remember correctly, it's a bit earlier than what you're looking for, centering more on the late 50s than the 60s. But still worth a read!
posted by phunniemee at 3:19 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by phunniemee at 3:19 PM on December 4, 2014
Best answer: Boy's Life, by Robert McCammon ticks all the boxes you mention. 12-year-old boy growing up in the rural south in the era of civil rights/segregation. It won awards in the Fantasy genre, but don't let 'fantasy' deter you - it is the fantasy of youthful imagination, not elves and dwarves.
posted by zyxwvut at 5:41 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by zyxwvut at 5:41 PM on December 4, 2014
I have read Thunderbolt kid and I think it'll be perfect as a look at life growing up in Midwest suburbia, although its more late 50s into the 60s. It's LOL funny at times too.
posted by COD at 5:47 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by COD at 5:47 PM on December 4, 2014
Perhaps The Invisible Circus, by Jennifer Egan?
posted by lyssabee at 8:05 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by lyssabee at 8:05 PM on December 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
This Boy's Life, by Tobias Wolfe, starts in the 50s but ends up in the 60s. It ticks your boxes. The 'ethnicity' of the character is something of a reveal, and sort of ticks your boxes. They are clearly working class; it is considered literary. It has a fair bit of detail about cars and presidents. It is not experimental in form.
posted by jojobobo at 9:54 PM on December 4, 2014
posted by jojobobo at 9:54 PM on December 4, 2014
Best answer: growing up in urban 1960s America
Quite easy to find suburban 1960s stories, for example, Blue Sky Dream by David Beers. But urban, big-city metropolitan ...no, not quite This Boy's life - although it's a great book, mostly takes place in Idaho.
Here's one, obscure -- Aurora 7 by Thomas Mallon. Happens in NYC, during Scott Carpenter's flight; one of the main characters a 12-year-old.
If your urban interest would be specifically San Francisco in 1967 you'd dig The Summer of Love; a couple of its characters 16-year-olds running away to Haight-Ashbury.
posted by Rash at 10:42 PM on December 4, 2014
Quite easy to find suburban 1960s stories, for example, Blue Sky Dream by David Beers. But urban, big-city metropolitan ...no, not quite This Boy's life - although it's a great book, mostly takes place in Idaho.
Here's one, obscure -- Aurora 7 by Thomas Mallon. Happens in NYC, during Scott Carpenter's flight; one of the main characters a 12-year-old.
If your urban interest would be specifically San Francisco in 1967 you'd dig The Summer of Love; a couple of its characters 16-year-olds running away to Haight-Ashbury.
posted by Rash at 10:42 PM on December 4, 2014
Let's try that again:
The Summer of Love by Lisa Mason.
posted by Rash at 11:19 PM on December 4, 2014
The Summer of Love by Lisa Mason.
posted by Rash at 11:19 PM on December 4, 2014
Todd Gitlin's The Sixties.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:21 AM on December 5, 2014
posted by persona au gratin at 12:21 AM on December 5, 2014
Birds of America by Mary McCarthy (and I know you said the 60s, but The Group is very good too)
posted by CMcG at 7:26 AM on December 5, 2014
posted by CMcG at 7:26 AM on December 5, 2014
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone. Urban interest would be specifically the SF Bay Area. Basically, I would love something like Telegraph Avenue, except set between '55 and '65.
posted by The Toad at 9:19 AM on December 5, 2014
posted by The Toad at 9:19 AM on December 5, 2014
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by The Toad at 2:47 PM on December 4, 2014