Kinflicks: A Novel

The tour of life that Lisa Alther provides for those of us who have begun to wonder is all-encompassing--and amazing, in the true, literal, and mostly forgotten sense of that word. She tells Ginny Babcock Bliss's story superimposed against her dying mother's final thoughts--in words and images that range from the Big Bang theory to hippiedom and the attempt to raise a trio of abandoned baby birds. And everything makes sense, logically follows from the thing before, and leads to the next thing. This is truly wonderful story-telling. I rarely reread books, but I read this back when it first came out, and it is even more impressive today. I'm off to find more of Lisa Alther's impressive work!

This seemed like an interesting read. The author jumps from the present to the past , and that's OK. This teenage girl starts to date and the dating leads to make out sessions. That took me back to my own past so that was fun reading. Then she had sex as were some of her friends. Not something so openly shared in the 50's and 60's. I know because I was there. The descriptions were detailed. Then the F-bomb started cropping up in everyday language. I could count on one hand the number of times I heard that in my teen years. And no, I was not a goody two-shoes raised in a glass bubble. I started to have a hard time reading this book and was skimming due to content and language. When this girl , from a "good" home finally allowed herself to be degraded by her "boyfriend", who ordered her to her knees in front of his open pants I had had enough. I still had 6 hrs. of this book to read and it just wasn't worth it. Had the story line been better I might have tried. I seemed sex and language just for the sake of shock value. No thanks to the book and this female author.

I originally read Kinflicks when it was first published. I was in my early twenties and could readily identify with Ginny, whose young life view was constantly in a state of upheaval. I just finished reading Alther's coming of age novel again, at age 58, and enjoyed it from a different perspective, but with the same relish. Kinflicks is written with genuine emotion and a sly wit. So glad I rediscovered it!

Not what I expected. I found myself struggling to finish.

I read this book when it was first published and, because certain elements of the story kept popping up in my mind, I decided to read it again. I was not disappointed. The second time around was even better than the first. This is a great read at any age or stage of your life. Lisa Alther is a national treasure

This book started off so strongly and about 4/5 of the way through just lost my interest. I think the author didn't know how to finish the story. It veered into a really odd relationship and the final pages were just strange. I would not recommend this and I am sorry that I wasted my time on it.

I return to this book again and again...always makes me laugh out loud. I give copies away to friends. Laughter heals...

After reading two chapters, I deleted the book...very hard to get into and very boring, did not hold my attention....

An excellent tragicomedy which had me laughing aloud many times. I would like to read more of this lady's work.

Great old book

First published in 1976, this is the story of Ginny Babcock being called back to her almost-estranged mother's bedside in hospital in the small Southern town of Hullsport. As she comes across her childhood and teenage haunts, her old school friends and boyfriends, she recalls the first sexual encounters and chronicles her further propensity for taking on cues from those around her as she goes to college, joins a hippie commune, has a same sex relationship, then succumbs to life as a suburban mother - all seemingly in search of her own identity. We also see life from her mother's point of view, as the two come to relate in some way. Lisa Alther is an accomplished writer and handles many of life's concerns confidently and with humour, this being quite a whacky tragicomedy for its time. The issues of life and death are argued over by some of Ginny's mother's fellow patients, while Ginny tries to keep some abandoned baby swifts alive, and herself ponders her own motivation for life. There are quite a lot of bawdy bits peppered throughout the novel. I found the hippie parts went on a bit, but overall I appreciated the original voice of the novel.

I loved this book so much when it was first published that I wanted to read it again to relive the pleasure. Sadly, that didn't happen - it hasn't aged well. Humour that made me laugh out loud back then now leaves me cold; insights that seemed brilliant are now tired; characters who seemed fresh and original now feel like clichés. But, if you didn't read it when it was first released, you may love it now - so 3 stars.

I was pleased to renew my acquaintance with this kindle version, having lost my original hardback from when it first came out. I love Virginia Babcock even though she is as mad as a box of frogs.