cover image Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty

Jimi Hendrix Turns Eighty

Tim Sandlin, . . Riverhead, $24.95 (308pp) ISBN 978-1-59448-933-4

Though Jimi doesn't make an appearance in this near-future satire, Sandlin (Skipped Parts ; Sorrow Floats ) has fun with his surviving fans. The year is 2022 (the year Jimi would've turned 80), and strait-laced retiree Guy Fontaine, at his daughter's behest, moves into the Mission Pescadero nursing home, where aged hippies, former radicals and random California nutjobs refuse to give up their sex, drugs and rock and roll. Guy is stricken with an acute case of culture shock, but gets over it with the help of a few friendly residents who aren't living in a perpetual summer of love. But just as Guy is getting into the scene, the residents take control of the facility to protest the lack of respect they receive from their families, doctors and the home's administrators. Though not all of the humor works across generations (chants of "Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh. AARP is gonna win"), most does, and the action, thankfully, is far from bingo night and crafts hour. (Jan.)