SOURCE: "Quint-Hype," in The New York Times Book Review, December 10, 1978, p. 16.

In the following review, Greenfield provides a brief summary of The Dionne Years.

To a generation surrounded by worldwide depression, poverty and the rise of fascism, the birth of the Dionne quintuplets in May 1934 was less a curious diversion than a badly needed affirmation of the human spirit. From a farmhouse in northern Ontario, news of the birth of the five identical infants, each weighing little more than a pound, gradually spread worldwide to become the biggest story of the decade. Everyone within reach of newspapers, radio and movie newsreels knew of Oliva and Elzire Dionne; of Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, who fulfilled the dream of Charlie Brown's Linus by becoming "a world-famous humble country doctor"; of every change of weight and strength.

The quints, however, were more than a fascinating story. They were a marketable, multimillion-dollarcommodity...