Home Free — Dan Wakefield

A slacker hero embarks on a rollicking cross-country journey of love-ins and acid trips in this rich portrait of the 1960s

When his foxy professor/girlfriend kicks him out of her apartment, perennial college student Gene Barrett sets off on a road trip in search of a place he can call home. He ventures from Boston to Maine to Iowa City, ultimately making his way to the “last resort” of California's Venice Beach. Experimenting with LSD, hash, and heroin, and encountering rock stars, draft dodgers, and natural food store proprietors living off the land, Gene zigzags through a cross-section of 1960s American counterculture.
 
More than a freewheeling jaunt through the sixties, though, Home Free sheds light on the universal desire for love and belonging. Amidst the haze of drugs and free-loving hippies, Gene is forced to look inward and face his deeply human flaws -- because eventually, his life will depend on it. With national bestselling author Dan Wakefield's trademark fusion of gritty, journalistic prose and richly evocative language, Gene's story is an engaging, somber meditation on self-awareness, responsibility, and growing up.