Customer Reviews

My '70s Book: The "When I Was A Kid..." Book For The Generation That Grew Up In The '70s

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A couple of weekends ago, I had the pleasure of reading "My 70's Book". As I was reading this book, I felt as if the author was speaking to me personally. Being born at the beginning of the decade in 1970, I could directly relate to about 98 percent of what Darryll wrote about. From family life to numerous aspects of pop culture, the author accurately and endearingly paints an incredibly accurate picture about the decade.

My 70's book is an enjoyable and easy read. I read the book over the course of a couple hours one lazy winter afternoon. It's one of those books that gets you reminiscing about the good old days, and just how much things have changed over the years. Things like vinyl LP's, television programming, automobiles, and paper routes had me reminding my kids of how good they have it with their ipods, satellite television, and pampered lifestyle! Wow.. I just read that last sentence and realized I'm indeed turning into my old man!!

This book had me longing for simpler times when a kid could play outside all day and not be seen again until dinner time. The book confirms in your mind just how much things have changed.. for better or worse. Anyone from the ages of 30 to 60 will absolutely love this book. It also provides a super entertaining history lesson to younger readers as well!

I grew up in the 70's and this is a must read book. This book brings back everything you remember and more.

This book discusses how playing was different in the 70's. Remember riding your bike all day, frisbee, M80's,and squirt guns with the plastic t-shaped end? Reading this book jogged a dear memory of arguing with all the neighbor kids about whether that sound a few streets away, was an M80 or an M100. I can hear everyone's voices now.

This book reminds us of the awesome music that was created in the 70's. Perhaps one of the more lasting impressions of our generation. Lately, my daughter has been singing, "Oh, oh, oh, it's magic you know o o." I have no idea how she knows this song.

This book talks about the movies of the '70's and who can forget some of the awesome tv shows we had. Even the commercials were cool. "Meow, meow, meow, meow" or how about, "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan..." I won't spoil the book by telling about the section on cartoons.

My favorite chapter has to be the toys we had. Nerf, Matchbox, Toss Across, these were so much fun. I mean, come on, how many times did you step on a green army man? The author even had a real-life toy. He was the owner of a '73 Camaro. Check this book out for more that you probably forgot about, but will remember right away.

Lastly, this book talks about what we had and what we didn't have. We had a pie-making mom at home. We didn't have cell phones,(soup cans with strings don't count). We had neighbors watching out for neighbors. We didn't have chat rooms. We had a consideration of other people that is lacking today. This book is a great read, a must read, a book that you'll pull off the bookshelf every few years just to keep the memories fresh.

It was an okay read, but I was looking for something that was more specific to the 70s, not just anyone's childhood growing up. The book could also get preachy at times. Please also bear in mind that it's a very short book, roughly the size of those Scholastic Books we had in grade school. All in all, a well meaning attempt by the author, but I don't think it really captured the spirit of the 70s very much. It could have benefited from the addition of photos, rather than the generic, hand drawn illustrations.

Darryll Sherman's book is a smile inducing look back at childhood if you grew up during the decade of the 70's. If you're the kind of middle aged adult who is absorbed in your day to day life and haven't taken the time to look back, this book is sure to bring some unexpected delight as Sherman relives memories that the majority of us shared. The book is a quick read and provided a welcome respite at the end of my day as well as a great fodder for reminiscing with other "old timers" over the age of 45.

For the purpose of my work I will reveal my age. It is.........32. Why do I feel it necessary to do such a radical thing? It is a move of solidarity with everyone else over 30, those people who can say with authority those words children dread to hear, When I was a kid....... Darryl Sherman feels our pain and confusion. He is a child of the 70's and has found himself often saying just that. The world has changed so much since that time and the author decided that his life as a kid was good, so good it needed to be shared with both fellow 70's kids and those not lucky enough to live in those groovy times.
Darryl Sherman's family was living the American dream. Dad has a good job, Mom stayed at home, and they raised their four kids in a suburb of Seattle, Washington. The Sherman kids were free and wild in a neighborhood that was still totally safe and came back each night to a home cooked meal. Life was simple and as the reader will agree, simply wonderful.
The book's divided into sections such as what people did or didn't have in the 70's and of course the things that most interest kids of any era, play time, movies, music, family vacations, and cars. It is a look at daily life instead of focusing on the historical events of the time, that while interesting, was not the concern of kids and not welcome in happy reminiscing.
The section that was the most reveling to me was playtime. The life of a child has drastically changed since the 70's and even the 80's when I was a kid. Today's kids are glued to the TV watching the many channels of cartoons and using their cells to call or text their friends. The suggestion of going outside to play is met with disbelief. Why should they go outside when they get all they want while sitting on the couch?
The kids of today would find life in the 70's rough, but it was an wonderful time for the children lucky enough to live it. Summer days were spent outside, riding one speed bikes and inventing their own games that required no technology to play. It was the days of tag and war, when kids built their own `guns' out of wood and no one told them they couldn't use their weapons because guns promoted violence.
There was exploration, camps, and great tree forts. The tree fort wasn't from a snazzy kit, but was built out of what could be found. It was a time to get down and dirty and a chance to be architects while learning the valuable skills of change and compromise.
We have gained so much in the last thirty years, but we have lost a lot too. We have lost the innocence and security that allowed kids to play outside on the city streets and walk home from school. We have given kids lots of gadgets to replace the wild freedom, but it is a sorry substitute.

This book was just plain fun to read! Thoroughly enjoyed it - so many forgotten memories brought back to mind and other memories refreshed.
Though I am just a bit older than the author, actually more of a '60's kid, I could still relate to almost everything in this book!I especially enjoyed the Toys chapter which included Saturday morning cartoons and commercials.
I highly recommend this look back ~ well worth the read!

It doesn't seem like there's very much to "My '70s Book." It's not a highly researched and indexed piece of generational sociology, a comprehensive look at the lasting consequences of shared pop culture, or a deep and revealing autobiography. But on one level, who cares? This book must have been fun to write, is definitely fun to read, and if you grew up in the 1970s I imagine you'll run into a lot of what I began to think of, in true '70s style, as "Oh Wow moments."

My first "Oh Wow moment" came when Darryll Sherman was describing clear plastic water pistols, and specifically the plastic cap with the T-shaped anchor on the end that was the key to the whole operation. Before that, I was keeping a certain objective book-reviewer distance from the narrative. But for some reason, thinking of that little "T" on the plastic thing was what made me say "Yes, I was there." Similar moments came with the discussion of cap pistols (a lot of toy weapons in my childhood, evidently) and, later, SSTs, a toy racing car I had entirely forgotten but which I now remember vividly. I'm wondering if the author and his friends ever played with the Evel Knievel motorcycles with their wind-up "launchers" that always seemed to end with a bad case of knuckles scuffed on the sidewalk.

There are more significant memories too, which is where "My '70s Book" begins to reveal a certain depth after all. Surface wistfulness about the end of the days when most kids had a mom at home during the day, when it was safe to ride bicycles all over the neighborhood and play outdoors late into the evening, and when friends' fathers could be counted on to enforce discipline and manners almost as thoroughly as your own, raises questions about how far we've really come, baby, since the lime green and orange 1970s. You might start out reading simply for the pop-culture flashbacks, but you might end up thinking about a lot of other things besides.

This book is a quick, fun and retro look at your youth, that is, if you grew up in the 70's. The author shares his childhood experiences, and insights that later shaped his adult life.

The book covers fantastic music, movies, toys, cars, family life, vacation and real life. The author depicts each of these significant memories in a total of ten chapters. By doing so, you have the option of reading the book from beginning to end or bounce around from chapter to chapter.

In addition, some of the popular commercials and advertising slogans of the era will have you reminiscing about your time spent in front of the "tube." The author's writing style is casual and personal. It's almost like sitting in your friend's living room and reliving the "good old days."

For those of you who are raising your own family or have extended family, you'll find that so much of what you remember about your childhood, family dinners, Mom at home, playing outside `till dark, riding your bike to parts unknown and still making it home for dinner is much different from what children are accustomed to in today's world.

Buy the book as a gift to yourself. Take a walk back in your own history, relive your experiences and then share this short easy-to-read sentimental book with your family and friends.

Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended.

Darryll Sherman is nearing mid life at 50;and gives us this book of reminiscences of what things were like when he was growing up and how much things have changed.
Although I am a whole generation older than Darryl,my three "kids" are about his age and my 8 grandkids are bringing up the rear of the next generation;I found this a great stroll down memory lane. It is a short book,and I am sure Darryl must have had a great deal of difficulty in deciding what to include,and what to leave out;because once one starts to recall the changes---they're endless.
I guess it boils down to the fact,that no matter what age one is,the generation before is the "olden times" and our generation has seen just about everything there is to see,and the future can't be all that much different.If there is any conclusion that I have finally arrived at,it is this.We have no idea of how fast everything we take to be up-to-date and modern,quickly becomes obsolete ,and what lies ahead is unimaginable.
When I was a kid,we were in the middle of WWII,there were people still living who had been in the Civil War,now the last surviving Veterns of WWI are almost all gone,and the youth think that the Vietnam War was a long time ago.
Darryll talks about the shows,etc., that he watched on TV ;heck,we didn't even know what TV was.We had the Radio,and all the music instead of Talk Shows,and our favorite programs such as Boston Blackie,Amos and Andy,Jack Benny,and who can forget the wisdom of Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd.Another world was that of the movies where kids went by themselves and with friends.Gene Autry,Roy Rogers,Smiley Burnet,The Three Stooges,Frankenstein,and Lassie and all; and in those days it was mostly B&W.Then the Comic Strips;Dick Tracy,Little Orphan Annie,L'il Abner and the Shmoo and Sadie Hawken's Day.
Even hugely popular toys and games have faded away.Great games of Marbles,glassies or alleys,and how about those pea shooters?By the time you were 10 or so ,you got a good jacknife and played endless games of "Jacknife" ,and in the school yard no less. Woe to the kid who shows up at school with a Jacknife today.Remember when you carved the initials of you and your girlfriend,surrounded by a heart,in the big oak tree.
I wonder how many kids today have ever made and become proficient with a slingshot? Darryll tells us about water parks,but I am reminded of those summer afternoons when we filled sandbags and dammed up the creek and built our own swimming hole;and even a bonfire nearby to warm up by.Like Darryll,we also played "Kick the Can" ,or as we called it, "Tin Can Policeman" and the kids still play it.I wonder if, as they got older,they graduated to "Spin The Bottle"?
He talks about mothers driving the kids everywhere. Well,it was different for us.Most parents didn't even have a car.However,that didn't cramp our style ,kids either walked,took their bikes or if it was further away,we went in style---we Hitchiked;and parents were seldom seen or involved in kids sports,swimming,or other activities.
I grew up in a smll town where Saturday night was a big event,The downtown streets and stores were filled with people.Trucks and cars brought throngs of country folk "to town",the soda shop was hopping as were the restraunts,hot dog and popcorn wagons.The local Fire Department ran a huge Bingo,the Pool Room was a hive of activity,and the Salvation Army Band played on the street corner. A walk through the downtown today is darkened and disappointingly lifeless.
This is a wonderful book and one you can't read without remembering what things were like when you were growing up.
It may seem far fetched to think that computers,I-Pods,Cell Phones,CD's,DVD's ,Rock Music, Playstations,Starbuck's,American Idol,Reality Shows,and a host of other things that seem to be the center of our universe; will be "Gone With The Wind (Remembrer that one?) and all to be replaced with things we can't even imagine today.
As Bob Hope so aptly put it on so many occasions,"Thanks for the Memories" or was that before your time,Darryll.
A great read Darryll,in a few years ,your kids will be saying the same as mine."Oh, not again Dad.You already told us how you had to walk three miles to school in the rain and snow. Don't tell us again how candy bars,ice cream cones,Cracker Jack and ,a bag of chips,and a bottle of soda used to cost a nickle or a dime,and the Saturday afternoon movie was 15 cents."

I recently read Darryll Sherman's book and I'm still smiling. My memory is pretty bad, so reading this book was hilarious to remember old toys (toss across), movies (Brian's song), music (Pat Benatar) and even commercials (Ancient Chinese secret, huh?). I even learned something new! We had prefixes to our phone numbers. My grandma's was JU at the beginning of her phone number. Now "Pennsylvania 6-5000" makes sense! I could go on entertaining myself here, but I will just highly recommend this book. It'd be perfect for a birthday gift, especially for that person that has everything! I also think it will be great fun to read down the road when current things mentioned in the book (like e-bay, google, and x-box) will also be a thing of the past! Buy one for you and a friend and have a good laugh!