Harold and Maude by Colin Higgins

I own and have seen the movie "Harold and Maude", based on this novel, multiple times. (The movie has an excellent soundtrack too.) When I found out that it was also a book, I immediately ordered a copy and I am so glad that I did. I want to get a copy for everyone I know. The movie was fantastic and the book was very true to the novel but it also had some tidbits that the movie left out.

It's the story of Harold, age 19, fond of attending funerals (for people he doesn't even know), he drives a old hearse and enjoys staging fake suicides to get the attention of his extremely controlling mother. He delights in trying new ways to accomplish this - setting himself on fire, hanging, drowning, etc. 

One day Harold meets Maude, age 80, a lady who loves fast cars (and "borrows" them often), she dabbles in nude modeling and enjoys the arts, she invents crazy contraptions including an "odorific" machine that creates smells, she liberates ailing city trees to plant in the forest, and just delights in and enjoys life to the fullest. 

Maude quickly becomes Harolds only friend (and lover) who teaches him to not fear life, but to take absolute delight in it.

A slightly dark, very quirky comedy with a many valuable lessons on life and what is really important.