A Day in the Life: One Family, the Beautiful People, and the End of the '60s

A Day in the Life: One Family, the Beautiful People, and the End of the '60s

by RobertGreenfield (Author)

Synopsis

From the author of Exile on Main Street comes the decadent, heartbreaking tale of the breakdown of a seemingly idyllic, upper-class marriage, set against the backdrop of the end of the sixties and populated with an unforgettable cast of jet-setting famous and infamous characters.This is the story of how the ideal marriage between two young, rich, and extraordinarily beautiful members of the English upper class degenerated into a hellish nightmare of drugs, decadence, madness, and death during a moment in time when the psychedelic dreams of the sixties were giving way to the harsh realities of the seventies. It is also the stirring account of how their two sons - one of whom is actor Jake Weber, currently co-starring with Patricia Arquette on Medium - somehow managed to survive a childhood that would have destroyed those of lesser spirit.The supporting cast of characters, which plays out against the background of the international jet set circa 1962-1975, includes Keith Richards and Anita Pallenberg; Mick and Bianca Jigger; Eric Clapton and Alice Ormsby-Gore; George Harrison and the Beatles; record producer Jimmy Miller and Traffic; actresses Fiona Lewis, Sally Field, and Charlotte Rampling; film directors John Frankenheimer and Lucchino Visconti; antique dealer Chrissie Gibbs; and LSD guru Timothy Leary and Joanna Harcourt-Smith, and many others.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 368
Edition: 1
Publisher: Da Capo Press Inc
Published: 04 Jun 2009

ISBN 10: 0306816229
ISBN 13: 9780306816222
Book Overview: Dead Flowers

Media Reviews
Kirkus Reviews, 4/15/09
A eulogy for the 1960s...Though it often reads like an extended society gossip column, the narrative is studded with enough trivia and name-dropping to engage ex-hippies and other fans of '60s culture.

San Francisco Bay Guardian, 5/6/09
This book [is] a great gift from the cosmos.

New York Post, 5/10/09
A look at the '60s through the lens of two of Swinging England's beautiful people.

Seattle Times, 5/17/09
Greenfield's reporting skill is admirable, and when he quotes Puss' last letter to her sons, it is bone-chilling. As the author of two previous books on the Rolling Stones, Greenfield brings the decade to life as well as any writer, without ignoring the darkness that soon envelops this family.

Tuscon Citizen, 5/7/09
This highly readable cautionary tale centers on two privileged people who lost their bearings in a hazy world of drugs, free love and unfulfilled dreams.

Monterey Herald, 5/21/09
His books, articles, profiles, stories and scripts have made his voice one of the prominent spokespersons for the 1960s. In his work, he delves beneath the surface of the lives of some of the most important figures of this music generation, showing readers the humanity that lives beneath fame and glory.

January.com, 5/15/09
Reads, at times, like a novel...This book is just stuffed full of...juicy tidbits.

Washington Times, 5/31/09
[An] extraordinary story, part magical mystery tour and part morality tale...Greenfield has done a marvelous job of re-creating the wild ride of Tommy and Puss with a splendid immediacy...As rendered here anyway, they are in themselves fascinating characters, oddly compelling and attractive despite their glaring flaws...Greenfield is a superb guide through the turbulent world where this odd couple led their frenzied lives...One of the most powerful cautionary tales about the heady Sixties that I have ever read.

Los Angeles Times, 5/31/09


Kirkus Reviews, 4/15/09
A eulogy for the 1960s Though it often reads like an extended society gossip column, the narrative is studded with enough trivia and name-dropping to engage ex-hippies and other fans of 60s culture.
Kirkus Reviews, 4/15/09
A eulogy for the 1960s...Though it often reads like an extended society gossip column, the narrative is studded with enough trivia and name-dropping to engage ex-hippies and other fans of '60s culture.
Author Bio
Robert Greenfield is the author of several books, including Exile on Main St.: A Season in Hell with the Rolling Stones. An award-winning novelist, screenwriter, and journalist, he lives in California.