The Ruins of California

GREAT novel by Martha Sherrill. It's the coming-of-age story of Inez Ruin (hence the title), who has two flaky California-in-the-'70s parents, one in San Francisco, and one on the outskirts of L.A. I'd say the punny title is the least subtle thing about it. Mostly, it just exudes a kind of sense memory of the '70s, and shows how the turmoil of
cultural mores could shape two people, one kindly narcissist (dad), one loving-but-absent bent-on-self-development mom. Plus abuelita, who works all the time, and regal grandmother Marguerite, who takes Inez in hand when her parents fail to.

There's all kinds of artifacts of the era, here -- casual drug use, est, a raffish North Beach, an obsession with modern architecture, surfing and Hawaii and communes, tennis, '70s New Wave cinema, and on and on. It all hangs together, though; nothing feels pulled in as set dressing. It's all part of the story.