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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Guy Fontaine's time has passed. It's 2022, and he's an involuntary resident in assisted living at Mission Pescadero, California, "the premiere retirement community in Half Moon Bay"-and in the company of others his age who are yearning for a time when life was fun. Precisely: 1967, the days of sex, drugs, peace, protest, rock and roll, and revolution. The drugs may be a little different, but when change is necessary, revolution is still revolution. As an epic battle begins between authority and the oppressed, young and old, intolerance and free love-complete with twenty-four-hour news coverage-the radicals of the newly christened Pepper Land are going to raise hell. And crank up the music.

Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

The Bookschlepper Recommends June 20, 2008
Guy Fontaine is an Okie (although not from Muskogee) who, in 2022, finds himself in assisted living on the California coast with the 70- and 80-year olds of Haight Ashbury and the Summer of Love. It only takes him a few days to learn to appreciate the finer points of sex, drugs and rock `n roll. But he's still a Heartlander, not bound by ideas of peace, love and harmony when the facility's director decides to euthanize a cat. As the assisted community reverts to commune, the music blares, the bras come off, the Viagara appears and the Man is at the gate. It's a hoot-and-a-half. The humor rings true and there is no patronizing these dudes. I appreciate that.

4 out of 5 stars

A new discovery June 10, 2008
I learned of Tim Sandlin through the humor author Christopher Moore. I did a little research on Sandlin and decided to give one of his novels a try. I was not disappointed. Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty is at times clever, humorous, and ultimately touching. Many of the reviews have disparaged the ending. However, I felt it was massively apropos and true to the tricks of life. Great success and highs are followed by lows and heartache. And time keeps marching on.
Although some of the characters are underdeveloped, and the novel has a few too many digressions for my taste, it is overall a satisfying read. Not only that, but there were some profound revelations about the nature of life, including this line from a character; "Beauty is heartbreaking and heartbreak is life-affirming, therefore beauty is a heartbreaking form of life affirmation." Words that only those who have lived can truly appreciate.
I will say, that I did not find the novel as funny as Mr. Moore's novels, but what humor there was seemed appropriate and fit the scene. Sandlin tried hard to steer clear of shtick, and I for one appreciate the attempt. I will definitely investigate more of Sandlin's novels.

3 out of 5 stars

Could this be for real!?!? May 30, 2008
Reading about anyone in a nursing home is depressing... even moreso when you realize that they could be writing about you!!

Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty really isn't that far-fetched when one reconsiders that we often relive our experiences: our parents want us to like what they like, we want our kids to be like us, etc. So what's so unusually to think that a group of senior hippies might stage a sit-in at their nursing home, or jam to music of the 60s?

This book was fun to read, and certainly well written. However, I think the author fell a bit short in reaching a conclusion. I would have felt better knowing that a group of retired hippies might have genuinely come to some logical (and reasonable) conclusions instead of a neatly wrapped ending. Still, I found it a good-enough read to hold my interest. I would recommend it.

4 out of 5 stars

The Scariest Humor Ever May 4, 2008
If you already love Tim Sandlin as I do, you'll find that his unique, quirky humor continues here. Tim has a way of breaking life down into simple body functions.I'm pretty sure the number of references to drool and spit in this book is some kind of literary record. While still hilarious at times,the dark side of this book hit me harder than any of his others, the love, loss and parenting in his other books are pretty open ended subjects, but old age as a subject runs up against the wall of iminent death and makes me think harder on that subject than is comfortable. I wanted to run right out,join a gym, beef up my IRA contribtions and re-write my will, and even that didn't make me think I would be safe from the fate shared by Sandlin's characters. This is the scariest funny book I've ever read.

3 out of 5 stars

Reads Well But Disappointing in the End April 27, 2008
More than a novel, this is a story of the fears of growing old. Most of us fear that we will end up in an institution without any rites, being ordered to play bingo and shuffleboard. We fear being treated like children, given drugs that zap us out, put in a wheelchair and sat in front of a TV to watch "Regis and Kathy Lee" reruns all day. More than anything else we fear the loss of freedom of action (or inaction). If I wanted to be regimented, I would have joined the armed forces, or become a guerilla with the Grey Panther Liberation Forces.

Sandlin does a decent job putting all these fears together, at the same time he doesn't take everything to seriously either. The problem I had with the book was that it was much of a 'pastiche' as opposed to a coherent story. All the little anecdotes that he created are cute or funny, but that doesn't create a 'whole'.

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