August: Reading the '70s

Fiction written in or about the 1970s

Aug 04, 2024

Hello, readers! Technological innovation. Inflation and stagnant wages. Geopolitical uncertainty, war, environmental activism. Restless youth questioning authority. 2024 or 1974? Yes.

Researching this list of suggested titles was so fun, thanks to all the friends active on Substack Notes who helped crowdsource it.

My birthday’s in August and as a child of the 1970s, I hereby invite you to my virtual bookish birthday party where we’ll read any book set or written in the era this month. It’ll be fun, I promise! Disco party helmet optional. 🥳

Of all the lists I’ve created so far this year, this one has been by far the most difficult to narrow down to a reasonable number of reads. It might give you the impression you need to be as voracious as Jaws (1974) to hang, but that’s not my intent. If this list inspires you to try even one of these, I’ve done my job.

Here’s what I’m starting with, reserving the right to add or substitute as the mood carries me. In reverse order of their original publication date:

The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner (2013) was a National Book Award finalist and was named by The New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of that year and was #56 on the recent list of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Set in the mid-1970s, its narrator is a woman who we know as Reno, her nickname based on where she’s from. She’s come to New York City to turn her fascination with motorcycles and land art into a career. She falls into a relationship with Sandro Valera, an artist from a family enriched by their Italian motorcycle and tire empire.

From the Soho art world to Italy’s radical political movements of the era, Reno avoids the commonplace in her experiences and the language she uses to describe them. I’ve read the first two chapters and I’m already hooked by her perspective. Recommended by @Leftyslefty.

Eat the Document (2006) by Dana Spiotta takes its title from a 1972 documentary about Bob Dylan. After a domestic bombing campaign against corporations goes awry, Mary escapes underground with her lover Bobby. The novel alternates scenes from her getaway and reconstruction of her life and scenes from the late 1990s, in which her teenage son discovers her and Bobby’s identities. Recommended by Melinda Copp.

I originally wanted to re-read The Savage Detectives, Bolaño’s road trip novel set in Mexico, 1975 as two hunted men leave town on the trail of a vanished poet which was recently listed as #38 on the NYT list. Given how many new-to-me books I’ve stacked up in making this list, I’m adding By Night in Chile/Nocturno de Chile (2000) by Roberto Bolaño instead. It’s shorter and, in my opinion, might be a superior introduction to his work for anyone new to it and curious.

It’s a compact satirical novella, a first-person death-bed confession of a priest and conservative literary critic from a poor background who wanted to be poet. He recounts meeting Pablo Neruda and giving lessons in Marxism to Pinochet. Maybe this will prompt me to tell you some of my stories of living in Chile around the turn of the century, when this book was new and all the rage.

The English translation by Chris Andrews originally published in 2003 (New Directions) is out of print, but you can find it at Thriftbooks.com or other online used books stores. The intriguing pink and black cover above is for a new printing by Picador, coming out in September 2024.

Democracy (1984) is Joan Didion’s fourth novel. Though it received mixed reviews, it was the work she said she was most proud of. Set in Hawaii and Southeast Asia in 1975, it tells the story of Inez Victor, wife of a U.S. Senator and one-time presidential hopeful. Since she was a teen, she’s been involved with a CIA agent and war profiteer named Jack Lovett. Murder and scandal ensue. I had some trouble finding this one in hard copy as a stand alone since it’s out of print and my library doesn’t have it, but you can also find it as an e-book or as part of the Library of America anthology of her work from the 1980s and 90s. Recommended by Contarini.

Octavia Butler’s Kindred (1979) finds Dana, a Black woman, celebrating her 26th birthday on June 9, 1976 when suddenly transported to the antebellum South where she saves Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, from drowning. She’s summoned again and again to protect Rufus and ensure he’ll grow to father the daughter who will become Dana’s ancestor, leaving behind her left arm—and much of her comfort and security— in the process. This stylistic hybrid of memoir, fantasy and speculative fiction made a distinctive contribution to neo-narratives of enslavement. Recommended by Tara Penry.

Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975) is a comedic and chaotic tale of a motley crew of four individualists who will go to extremes to dismantle progress and resist the destruction of the American West via dams, bridges and concrete. Recommended by Tara Cheesman.

Other Contenders

Here are a few others I considered. Maybe one of these will speak to you?

If you want an entertaining recent release The God of the Woods by Liz Miller (2024), how about a thriller that begins in August 1975, at a summer camp. Recommended by… all the book influencers. Or for other contemporary commercial titles with 70s vibes, maybe try Mary Jane (2021) by Jessica Anya Blau recommended by Cori Feldman and Kate Braithwaite or Kate’s other suggestion, the beloved Daisy Jones & the Six (2019).
If you want to another option to explore the international political context at the time, consider Dekada ‘70 by Lualhati Bautista, which is also a film streaming on Apple TV, recommended by Jam Canezal.
To read/watch, how about Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin (1978) recommended by Kate Jones, which is also a Netflix miniseries.
If you’re looking for non-fiction, I’ve got a hold on Stud’s Terkel’s 1974 classic Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel about What They Do, which inspired Barack Obama’s 2023 Netflix series Working: What We Do All Day. Recommended by Travis Gulbrandson. Or one of my favorite memoirs, Patti Smith’s National Book Award Winning Just Kids: An Autobiography recommended by Skye’s Substack might hit the spot for you.

Thank you

To my new paid subscribers in July: Thea, Caroline T., Angela B., Sue, Babro, Lisa and Kathy. Your support means so much.

If you enjoy this newsletter, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription or leaving me a one-time tip. All proceeds in 2024 will be donated to librarians and organizations mounting legal challenges against book bans. If you make a purchase of any title from the Bookshop.org affiliate link in this or my other posts, you also send a small commission my way at no additional cost to you.