Paradise Fever: Dispatches from the Dawn of the New Age

by Ptolemy Tompkins

This title tells of four years in the mid-1970s, when the author was growing up inside the outlandish utopian household that his father has created. There, the ancient dream of paradise was re-enacted in a modern setting and even the most mundane details of daily life were infected with cosmic optimism.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Margaret]

I didn't even realize until I was two-thirds through the book that this book is actually a non-fiction biographical account - it almost seemed like fiction to me. The first third of the book was an account of Ptolemy's childhood growing up with an avant-garde father and a mostly passive mother in an environment of "freedom" touted by his father which included living with his father's mistresses as well as strangers who happened to show up at the house. The second third of the book dealt with Ptolemy's teenage years and his attempts to discover himself. The last third of the book (my least favorite part) is Ptolemy as a 37 year old adult man with an alcohol and pill problem who is still trying to discover who he is. A pretty quick read - this odd family's lives were quirky enough to keep me engaged through most of the book.

[Keren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ptolemy gives the history of growing up with a crazy New-Age father from childhood to college. His dad, the author Peter Tompkins who wrote The Secret Life of Plants, definitely defined Ptolemy in his quest to understand the world in all its absurdities.

[carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good autobiography about growing up in the crazy 70s and leftover 60s. Ptolemy Tompkins was raised in the shadow of one of its more showy personalities, his father Peter Tompkins.

Mr. Peter Tompkins' most well known work was The Secret Life of Plants. He insisted the plant kingdom could 'feel' human emotion.

A rabbit hole worthy of the name. It would have been enough, but not yet.

Peter was also the author of Secrets of the Great Pyramids, Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids,The Magic of Obelisks, and a self-narrated documentary titled Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle.

I think we can all see where this is going. Some of Mr. Tompkins works are considered unironically "classics" of the New Age movement. (Is that still a thing?)

After being raised with all of these influences, plus many in the realm of sexual mores we can be sympathetic to his son Ptolymies' series of identity crises.

This book is part biography of his dad and autobiography of himself growing up.

There's a lot of secrets here. As you'll find by reading a few of those secrets are based in the unfortunate baggage that all dysfunctional families carry along. And have less to do with aliens, occult powers, and talking to plants.

I'll leave the details for you to read.

This tale felt a bit of a homecoming. Growing up as a kid in Florida certainly held nostalgia to me. And a number of the same influences in Ptolymies' life were kept fluttering around in in my own home in the name of being open minded.

Ptolemy holds a lot of windows open for us to watch and even share experiences. This book was never meant to be superb prose. It still has worth for me in the stories themselves.

[SmokingMirror · Rating 4 out of 5]

Threaded with both sorrow and aching humour--the Zodiac intrepidly exploring the Bermuda Triangle, at a place where the depths reached about three feet, was a highlight--Paradise Fever is a compeling memoir by the son of writer Peter Tompkins, known in the seventies for the popularity of the book The Secret Life of Plants, and then forgotten thereafter--I say unfortunately. Ptolemy, besides having one of the cooler names in the world, explores issues concerning belief in general, as well as the issues brought about by his unusual for its time upbringing. Somewhat reminiscent of the memoir by the son of Wilhelm Reich--both are good.

[Jerry Vanschaik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't recall the year I read this Paradise Fever but after I saw Jaws on its 50th Anniversary showing on the big screen I felt like I wanted to leave a gratitude, more than I review. I identified with the protagonist as we shared the same response to seeing Jaws, described early in the book. From there I continued to see myself in the pages and still do. I will leave it there, since Paradise Fever will always resonate with me in ways that a review can't capture.

[Differengenera · Rating 5 out of 5]

childhood memoir of a guy whose father was one of the more famous new-age writers of the time: he moved a girlfriend into his marriage and was v jnvolved in searching for Atlantis. I read this years ago and remember it being v funny

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written, engaging, not my cup of tea.