Kinflicks [Paperback]

Lisa Alther (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 1999

Meet Ginny Babcock - the forerunner to BRIDGET JONES It's the 1950's and 60's in Hullsport, Tennessee and Ginny Babcock is coming of age. Bouncing from one identity to the other, she adopts the values, politics, lifestyles and even sexual orientation of each new partner she finds. In this wise, funny and ultimately heartbreaking story, Lisa Alther explores the limited roles offered to women in this period - from cheerleader to motorcycle moll, bulldyke to madonna - each embodying important truths about the aspirations of the culture that created them. Honest, wise, funny and tragic by turns this is a remarkable novel in a class of its own.

Editorial Reviews

From The New Yorker

An ambitious, funny, lucid, and unfailingly honest novel...No other writer has yet synthesized [the coming of age in the '60's] as well as Ms. Alther has. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'An ambitious, funny, lucid and unfailingly honest novel ... No other writer has yet synthesised (the coming of age in the 60's) as well as Ms Alther has' THE NEW YORKER 'A strong, salty, original talent ... It made me wonder what Tom Jones would be like written now' DORIS LESSING 'Dazzling talent ... brilliant, compelling ... wildly ribaldly funny' PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 'An odyssey of a novel in which the heroine, American teenager Ginny Babcock struggles to find her true identity. The novel is in turn raunchy, extremely funny and a deeply serious offering. It is also unfailingly honest. It becomes a book about life and death told in a deft, refreshing and highly original voice' WESTERN MAIL 'A feminist classic (but don't be frightened fellas, it's a great read)' DEREHAM & FARENHAM TIMES 'It's the story of how Ginny became Mrs Ira Bliss IV but it's told in the most refreshing, honest, funny, invigorating way and it is very much a novel of its time' DRIFFIELD POST

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Virago (May 6, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860497098
• ISBN-13: 978-1860497094
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 7.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,206,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa Alther is the bestselling author of five novels, among them the critically acclaimed Kinflicks, and a family memoir, Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree. She was born in Kingsport, Tennessee, in 1944, one of five children in a close-knit family influenced by both its Southern and "Yankee" roots. After attending Wellesley College and working in book publishing, she moved to Vermont, where she began to write and raise her daughter. Alther currently divides her time among Tennessee, Vermont, and New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Worth the Wait, March 27, 2001

By 

Allen Smalling "Constant Reader," (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kinflicks: 20th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

Alther's literary creation is 'feminist' in the most salutory sense of the word, but it doesn't contain the mandatory man-bashing that became so common a few years later. Instead, Alther invokes an avalance of wit and sharp observation that will provoke a healthy nostalgia in the over-40s, a realistic warts-and-all view of that decade in the under-40s, and a pretty darn good look at that pivotal time for young adult readers who pick up the book. (Perhaps you know an older teen who's 'into' the 1960s?) The plot takes our (at least partly autobiographical) heroine from little 'Hullsport' (read: Kingsport) Tennessee Up North to a good college, and gets her into the Sixties just at the point they get hot, hot, hot. Of the many virtues of this novel, two stand out to me: (1) Alther narrates the story in a moderate point-of-view, avoiding the twin perils of getting too immersed in the subject or too distant and 'snooty'; and (2) related to this, her lead character's voice (which reflects her personality) is good, clear and steady, no whining here. Not to mention the fact that the book is witty as all get-out.

As you probably know by now, this kind of witty and zestful Baby Boomer's coming-of-age story is a glut on the literary market but in my opinion "Kinflicks" is *far* above the norm in quality. You probably already have your own favorite coming-of-age-in-the-Sixties novels; try "Kinflicks" and add another to your list.

PS: Oh, Mr. Publisher!! Have you noticed that eight of us or so have gone to the trouble to review "Kinflicks," even though it's difficult to find through normal distribution channels? How about a reprint? I don't think you'd regret doing so.

[e-mail]

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A '60's woman's search for identity, July 25, 2000

By 

Dianne Merridith - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kinflicks: 20th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

Like many women of her generation (the 50s and 60s), Ginny Babcock is searching for her identity in an age when much is expected of women, but few opportunities and little direction is available. Being a wife and a mother is no longer the expected (and supposedly fulfilling) goal of all women of Ginny's generation, but what to choose instead . . .? Ginny tries a little bit of everything as she seeks for a role that thoroughly expresses her as a woman. Most of Ginny's experiments seem silly from the outside and end up as dissatisfactions and dead-ends, but often that's the only way we find our way through life. Counterposed with this is the lingering death of Ginny's mother and the struggle of the two women to bridge generational gap of two different generations and find some common ground. Ginny longs for some wisdom about life from her mother, but eventually sees that the only lesson available comes from simply living your life. I found this novel completely absorbing and sat up most of a night reading it. The relationship of Ginny and her mother touched a chord and has stayed with me.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A poignant moving novel, achingly real and humorous, December 11, 1999

By 

David Cohen (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kinflicks: 20th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

Ginny Babcock is the ultimate slacker, years before it became fashionable, or worse yet a media term to wrap a journalistic flag around. This book follows Ginny's misadventures, recorded with wry accuracy by the protagonist. A woman who is very intelligent but unable to make a niche for herself. What makes it so poignant to watch as she careens around from role to role is the hard fact that her mother dies slowly and is unable to provide Ginny with any profound relevations as the turbelence in her life grows to epic proportions. With the conclusion, one gets a strong sense that Ginny eventually straightens herself out.