The Dregs of Aquarius — Rick Dewhurst

After Tom Pollard's knee injury ends his basketball hopes, and his older brother Bob is killed in Vietnam, he drops out of Berkeley and slums as a bartender in a hippie haunt on Vancouver Island. In an attempt to rescue him, his conservative girlfriend Ruby takes a job teaching school there, but soon becomes weary of Tom's lost soul routine. When summer arrives, she returns home to Anaheim, indefinitely. In her absence, Tom overindulges in booze and drugs, until reality intrudes and forces him to confront death, loss, and the conspiring, malevolent universe. Fresh insightful, and often hilarious, The Dregs of Aquarius is a counter-culture Catcher in the Rye that delves into the coming-of-age challenges common to every generation. For anyone who didn't experience the hippie era first-hand, or for baby boomers who can't remember much about the whole scene and might want a refresher, The Dregs of Aquarius is the perfect trip.