Review of JIMI HENDRIX TURNS EIGHTY

JIMI HENDRIX TURNS EIGHTY, by Tim Sandlin

It's 2022 (the year Hendrix would have turned 80) and the old time hippies of California (with a few New Yorkers thrown in for good measure) are now back together, this time in an assisted-living home. It's been a long time since the Summer of Love, but you wouldn't know it by the antics of the residents: sex, drugs, and rock n' roll still rule the day. The only problem? The woman who runs the joint does so with an iron fist, even to the point of having her boy toy staff doctor over medicate some of the residents to keep them in line. Well, as she soon finds out, these elderly hippies have one last rebellion left in their old bones. Sandlin keeps the pace fast with short chapters and lots of dialogue. Funny stuff, but also some good musing on aging. 3 1/2 stars.

By the way, did you know my comic novel Into the Sunset also takes place in an assisted-living home? Much different plot, though, about a young man who disguises himself as an elderly gent to live in one of these communities. :-)