Thoroughly, thoroughly, THOROUGHLY enjoyed Craving Normal! What an entertaining read!
As she recounts colorful stories from child to adulthood, spanning from the Bay Area, to Greece, Morocco, France, L.A., and everywhere in between, I could almost picture author Michele Miles Gardiner extending a hand out to me and saying, “Come with me! You won’t believe this!”
Your dad put a suicidal Santa on your roof?! You stood up a 13-year-old Rob Lowe?! You were scammed by members of a VERY FAMOUS band before they were famous?! It’s just too good!
Each chapter highlights a new adventure, some that might make you cry, some that might make you think, but MOST that will make you laugh. It’s as “comfort food” as a read as they come!
I’m thinking we need a “Craving Normal: Volume 2,” Michele! I’d buy it!
Jug wine was to the 1970s what Scotch was to the 1950’s Rat Pack crowd; what Martinis were to 1960’s cocktail parties or what Bartles and Jaymes wine coolers were to the 1980s. Yep, jug wine is just as ’70s as mood rings, shag rugs and Pong. The combo just somehow went together – like Sonny & Cher, the Captain & Tennille, Shields and Yarnell… Okay, I think I’ve taken that whole thing too far, haven’t I? (*Don’t know what a mood ring is? See the 1970’s mood ring commercial, bottom of this post).
While going through slides for my book, “Craving Normal,” I discovered a theme in many photos from the ’70s involving my parents and their friends: the ever-present (or nearly always present) jug wine – there it was at house parties, diving days, beach outings, camping trips… and even at a kiddie party at the San Francisco zoo. No wonder whenever I see memories of the 1970s in my head, those bottles always seem to be clanking around there somewhere.
Hey, let’s play find the Jug O’ Wine (I guess the “wine” in each photo might give away the answers, huh?)
It’s 1970’s kid’s birthday party at the zoo, so of course there’s wine.Scuba diving and wine… just makes sense. I guess.
Maybe adults were trying to run away from home as this 1970’s Mateus ad reflects –
“Craving Normal,” my stories as a child growing up in the 1960s and beyond, will be available soon. Here’s my nearly complete book cover. Think I’ll keep “Enthusiastic quote goes here.”
Book cover for “Craving Normal,” written by Michele Miles Gardiner
“Craving Normal,” by Michele Miles Gardiner – back book cover text:
Living in a rock hut on a nude beach, staying in a religious commune,
facing an angry man with a gun, riding camels, hiding her freaky health
food lunches from lucky Twinkie eaters – Michele didn’t experience any
of this when her family lived in the suburbs of San Francisco. Then came
the counterculture revolution. Her entire life changed: Michele’s young
parents sold their home, bought a car and trailer over-seas and took her
and her little sister to explore the world.
We know a lot about the “flower children,” but what does an actual child
growing up in that era have to say? While many tales about that revolutionary time
are on record, few come from the perspective of the children who lived it.
This collection of stories are from one child’s perspective – tales of
becoming a young adult whose brain, and life, transformed from her early
experiences. Rebelling by cheer-leading, eating junk food, attending honor
roll parties, dreaming of being a foxy stewardess/actress? Lame, sure.
But how else does a child of young parents of the wild Sixties generation
rebel? By countering the counterculture.
Michele’s collection of stories – in which she rarely takes herself too
seriously – span from her earliest memories of the suburbs (her idea of
“normal”), through growing up trying to find a place where she fits in, once
again. Does she find it? Is Hollywood a sane place to search for normalcy?
