Customer Reviews

Frantic

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There I was, down in the basement of Seed Restaurant in the psychedelic Sixties, dishing up the first organically grown natural foods to ever grace a British restaurant table. It was the cool place to eat, and the cream (and the whey) of the `underground' scene came through; one felt immense pride to be introducing them to wholesome living. That is, until Frances Lynn's book Frantic came into my hands.

Now I realize that once off-premises, many of my loyal customers proceeded to do everything possible to counter-balance their healthful experience at Seed, ingesting things that were definitely not macrobiotic and engaging in decidedly unwholesome behaviour. How could they! The brown rice obviously wasn't `speaking' to them.

Sure they had fun, and Frances spares no details in her rich and fulsome recounting of the wilder side of London and San Francisco in the late 60's/early 70's, so much so that I feel like I was there - and I was, but now know what part of "there" I was missing out upon. But at what price, the fun? After reading her book, I am not sure whether to feel left out of the action, or smug that I spent that time chewing each mouthful a hundred times. I can feel both.

Thank the muses; Frances unbelievably survived to tell the tale, managing to do so without glorifying her colourful characters. I'd rather laugh at their faults and foibles than feel sad for them, recognizing that had they got with the wholesome programme then Frances may never have written her very entertaining book. Would the world be a poorer place thereby?

From heroin to Lithium and back again..before finally arriving in a village called Sanity on the other side of Blissland.

There may be some survivors out there who could enjoy the powerful regression therapy this book has to offer.

An informative read for would-be celebrity hunters, historians, people with various degrees of bi-polar disorder, mental healthcare workers and most of all pre-teens who want to give their grand parents a heart attack.

Unless those grand parents belong to the afore-mentioned survivor group, in which case I suggest they get extra copies of FRANTIC to form a domestic study circle.

It's so full of visuals that reading it becomes like watching a movie. A fast and funny reading experience which left me wondering and pondering about what happened to all of us who lived through that purple haze era.

Written by screenwriting partners Ulla Ward de Mora & Craig Parke

As readers who are discovering Frances Lynn's amazing novel, "Frantic" are beginning to pass the word around, this book reads like a movie. Instantly, from the very first page, it takes over one's eyes to the full as it travels across a marvelous screen that has suddenly popped up in one's mind (Even"Frantic's" wardrobe department contains some of the best add ons we've ever seen in print.)

Glued to one's seat, one can't imagine what is waiting on the next page-- and the next-- from this engagingly unto herself author, and her independently minded heroine Alice (a nice, difficult English girl during the Swinging decades in London who gets up to all kinds of socially and even highly personal marginal activities, notably over in San Francisco as well.) Frances Lynn and Alice share a kind of proprietary, absolutely natural understanding of the thoughtful and interesting notion that there are all kinds of individual shadings to being truly and honestly outrageous. Read "Frantic"and Alice will count the ways for you, giving you everything from plain shocking to genuine sweetness. When the beginning of the end rises up,it seems to wrap itself around the reader at just the right moment. The background music begins to sound as if --damn-- everything's going to stop in a sec. The screen slowly fades to black, the lights come on and one is back in what we call the real world again. It has been quite a trip.

In 'Frantic' we follow Alice, a naive English girl, aching to rebel against her posh upbringing, as she descends into a glittery hell peopled with dangerous grotesques and dusted with white powder.

After sharpening her claws on the butt end of the sixties, author Frances Lynn tears into the seventies' alternative scene with glee, exposing the hypocrisy, shallowness and sad junkie lifestyles of the 'beautiful people'. However, this is not just a novel about sex, drugs and rock n' roll; it's a novel filtered through them. So the reader gets to enjoy vivid acid tinged prose, and riotous cartoon depictions of San Francisco and London. At times, the style is reminiscent of counter-culture icons William S. Burroughs and Robert Anton Wilson, but with a fairy-tale sweetness neither of those authors have.

Fans of Frances Lynn's "Crushed", will recognise the same storytelling skills but may be shocked at the unbridled content. Freed from the constraints of writing for a teen audience, the author can display the the sharp wit which made her Britain's bitchiest columnist.

Like Alice says: "Wowee Zowee!"

There I was, down in the basement of Seed Restaurant in the psychedelic Sixties, dishing up the first organically grown natural foods to ever grace a British restaurant table. It was the cool place to eat, and the cream (and the whey) of the `underground' scene came through; one felt immense pride to be introducing them to wholesome living. That is, until Frances Lynn's book Frantic came into my hands.

Now I realize that once off-premises, many of my loyal customers proceeded to do everything possible to counter-balance their healthful experience at Seed, ingesting things that were definitely not macrobiotic and engaging in decidedly unwholesome behaviour. How could they! The brown rice obviously wasn't `speaking' to them.

Sure they had fun, and Frances spares no details in her rich and fulsome recounting of the wilder side of London and San Francisco in the late 60's/early 70's, so much so that I feel like I was there - and I was, but now know what part of "there" I was missing out upon. But at what price, the fun? After reading her book, I am not sure whether to feel left out of the action, or smug that I spent that time chewing each mouthful a hundred times. I can feel both.

Thank the muses; Frances unbelievably survived to tell the tale, managing to do so without glorifying her colourful characters. I'd rather laugh at their faults and foibles than feel sad for them, recognizing that had they got with the wholesome programme then Frances may never have written her very entertaining book. Would the world be a poorer place thereby?

I was very fortunate to get a preview copy of Frantic.Frantic reads like an entertaining fast paced movie. I would love to see this novel on the screen, it bought back memories of my own wild times in London as a young man with my first feature film, Angel Mine.

David Blyth Film Director May 2010

In 'Frantic' we follow Alice, a naive English girl, aching to rebel against her posh upbringing, as she descends into a glittery hell peopled with dangerous grotesques and dusted with white powder.

After sharpening her claws on the butt end of the sixties, author Frances Lynn tears into the seventies' alternative scene with glee, exposing the hypocrisy, shallowness and sad junkie lifestyles of the 'beautiful people'. However, this is not just a novel about sex, drugs and rock n' roll; it's a novel filtered through them. So the reader gets to enjoy vivid acid tinged prose, and riotous cartoon depictions of San Francisco and London. At times, the style is reminiscent of counter-culture icons William S. Burroughs and Robert Anton Wilson, but with a fairy-tale sweetness neither of those authors have.

Fans of Frances Lynn's "Crushed", will recognise the same storytelling skills but may be shocked at the unbridled content. Freed from the constraints of writing for a teen audience, the author can display the the sharp wit which made her Britain's bitchiest columnist.

Like Alice says: "Wowee Zowee!"

Welcome to the world of sex, drugs, and disintegration. Frantic chronicles the crazy journey of Alice, an English girl, who somehow survives the insanity of the drug circles in San Francisco and London during the early seventies. There are many off-the-wall moments in Frantic, and Frances Lynn captures them with superb humor and amazing clarity.

Alice, like Alice in Wonderland, is on a trip. There are many colorful characters along the way. But there are many pitfalls as well, including trips to the mental hospital and attempted murder. I would say more but I don't want to give anything away.

Alice is a character that is very likeable, due to her resilience, passion, and knack for seeing through people. Lynn exposes the shallowness and general attitude problems of her characters, while at the same time rendering them in a vulnerable desperate state. There's something ominous in the air which becomes more and more apparent as you read on. Yet, I still found myself laughing through these moments.

Frances Lynn, who also wrote the book Crushed, is an extremely witty writer, whose character descriptions are unlike any that I have read before. They are often merciless, but they are not cold blooded assassinations. There's a ring of truth to them, which is what makes them so funny. Regardless, I would hate to be at the receiving end of Frances's pen.

Frantic is a great story that I highly recommend. Even for those who did not live through that period, this book will entertain you simply because it's such a spirited and hilarious ride.

A crazt chronicle of a time long gone when the Flower Power lifestyle turned so quickly into depravity that all good hippy souls were caught in a 70's hell. This book is so descriptive and edgey that I couldn't stop reading it. my eyes were like saucers!