Reviews

David Young, two-time Grammy Nominee, and writer/producer of the rock opera Woodstock: The Mystery of Destiny.

Space and Thyme (aka Persephone Sprague) just met and what a magical moment. He met her and then he met her, the girl of his dreams. I was beginning to think that Junie was Thyme but they weren’t really connecting. I knew it was a wrap once the puke fest commenced—lol.

I cracked myself up because the last page of Chapter 16 is adjacent to Chapter 17, "Finding Thyme." As I read Space trying to make up his mind about going to Syracuse my eyes kept popping over to the next page. I was like “Go, go you are about to find Thyme.” I grew a little impatient with Space. Ha, almost skipped the page to get to the next chapter!

Oh man, this is such a fun read. I hope it ends well. Well, to me, is the fairytale ending And they lived happily ever after. Will it end well? No don’t tell me. I want to know but I don’t want to know. If it doesn’t end well then I want to stay in Chapter 17 where they are in the perpetual bliss of new love.

How deliciously beautiful.

OMG, I can’t wait to read the sequel! Space’s teen years remind me sooooo much of mine and I just loved reading your book so much.

“I just finished reading your book. It’s delightful. Nice job. Lots of good humor. We were watching a movie called Taking Woodstock 1969 and the iconic footage in that was fantastic. And of course, we immediately thought of your book and your experiences. It’s really great.”

I read the first paragraph and I was hooked. If a book does not hit me quick I am gone. By The Time I Got To Woodstock was a rare perspective of the Festival by Space Larrabee. The intrigue created by Space, Thyme, and Atlantis was excellent. It had just the right mix of uniqueness, storytelling, and Space’s antics to keep me laughing and excited.

This is the first book I’ve read in a year. It was a spiritual retreat back to my days at Kent State University, reading under my favorite tree. It was a refreshing visit back to a time when you could hear yourself think. It’s a supersonic pace we live in today. I got to go back to a slower world and reflect on my own life during that time.

This is a great story told just like it was lived. Drama, intrigue, tears, and more. I loved it and you will too. Thanks for the ride, Space.

Thank you D.E. Munson for a great read.

Space (his nickname) is a fairly normal, decent guy making his way into manhood during the late 60s–early 70s. He bobs along, rooming with buddies, taking college classes, pursuing jobs, attending concerts by big-name music groups, playing guitar, dating a little, trying psychedelia, and later meeting the girl of his dreams—Thyme (her nickname). With Thyme, Space steps up his search for artistic outlets and a spiritual home group.

This is the era of Peaceniks, Hippies, Flower Children, Free Love, communes, meditation, yoga, and gurus—those looking for something more than mainstream American consumerism, war mongering, and material images of success.

This scenes-in-the-life-of account is a medley of biography, history, allegory, romance, philosophy and spiritual seeking. The story contrasts a matched-hearts relationship with an ominous character (Atlantis), who drastically changes the life of Space and Thyme and leads them to new inner and outer vistas.

By the Time I Got to Woodstock is an upbeat read. It brought back many memories of the 60s and 70s music, jargon, political and economic climate, slower pace of life, and search for higher values.

"Dear DE, De man. I met you briefly at the close of your Borders book signing last weekend. You disrupted my sleep for the next 2 days and 3 nights as I stole all available time with your book. It was a very pleasurable read. I had just finished reading " Not Fade Away" another journey through our generation's time and space. I feel that the time for our stories has never been better than right now, and we who lived through the 60's and early 70's participated {some of us}, in a great flowering, the seeds of which can still germinate and bear some much needed fragrance today. Thank you for putting it down so nicely. As I told you, I too almost made it to Woodstock, but never really left it at the same time."

“This past weekend I decided to just set all else aside—I knew that I wanted to read it all in one sitting. What a wonderful narrative. I am so impressed by your ability to recapture the feeling and language of that era. It was like stepping back into a time that changed us all. At the moment, I am sitting in Starbucks on M Street as I do every morning at this time, and smiling as I think about the momentous events that took place on this street. Time travel has always been my favorite fantasy. When my kids were little, I used to fantasize that I was from my own future and returning to experience again their childhood. It was a way of seeing deeper what was happening at the time and savoring it. Now of course I am that future me and I think back and feel like that longing to relive those days has already been satisfied. I had the same experience reading your book. Thank you so much for writing it and for sharing it. I will now give it over to Syracuse University Library where it will be available for others to read and enjoy.”

I read your fictional memoir/manifesto/page turner, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a breeze to read and it made me feel that I knew these people. Of course, I was doubly interested because it was set in a time/place which was meaningful to me. I could have, and should have, attended Woodstock with all of my friends, but didn’t. For some reason, I really liked Thyme’s Dad . . . that was a good scene. Further, I read it immediately after reading Moby Dick (not kidding).  I’ll pay real money for the sequel. 

This past weekend I decided to just set all else aside—I knew that I wanted to read it all in one sitting. What a wonderful narrative. I am so impressed by your ability to recapture the feeling and language of that era. It was like stepping back into a time that changed us all. At the moment, I am sitting in Starbucks on M Street as I do every morning at this time, and smiling as I think about the momentous events that took place on this street. Time travel has always been my favorite fantasy. When my kids were little, I used to fantasize that I was from my own future and returning to experience again their childhood. It was a way of seeing deeper what was happening at the time and savoring it. Now of course I am that future me and I think back and feel like that longing to relive those days has already been satisfied. I had the same experience reading your book. Thank you so much for writing it and for sharing it. I will now give it over to Syracuse University Library where it will be available for others to read and enjoy.