A young woman drops out of college after several personal crises and finds her way to a commune in Vermont. There she eventually finds a role, practicing music and serving as office manager. A bad trip puts her in a mental hospital just as the commune is busted after radical members are accused of terrorism. A history in a nutshell of the hopes and promise of the 60s and their breakdown into violence and craziness as Vietnam wore on, RFK was assassinated and the Democratic Convention broke down in rioting. The heroine goes on to build a life in music--but would her younger self have considered that a sell-out? ( )

James Howard Kunstler is a local writer for me and I have the impression that he is a more of a regional author than a national author. His Handmade World takes place in the region that I live in, including my own home town. This story takes place in a real VT ghost town whose history is similar to the communes history in this book. Other towns mentioned in the book really exist, even the Putman Hospital though it is now as the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. Thus one can see the regional appeal of this book. Simply this is a coming of age story of Pooh Bollinger as told by her fifty years later. The war in Vietnam was raging and everyone was talking politics, doing drugs, listening to music and reading books. Though there is a fair amount of sex taking place the participants were pretty innocent and did not under stand it. Pooh learned one of the ramifications early as she was pregnant and had an abortion in the first few pages of the books.

There were few insights and it was a fast, but enjoyable read. I probably enjoyed it because I came of age during that time period. ( )