by Terry Bisson
First published 2013
Clay grows up in a small Kentucky town where his future seems predetermined. But the turbulent 1960s pull him away from everything familiar. He travels from Kentucky to New York City, then west to an isolated commune in New Mexico. The commune faces threats from a spreading national revolution that tears at the fabric of American society. Clay struggles to carve out his identity in this rapidly changing country. He carries the weight of a painful romance that ended badly back East, trying desperately to escape memories of the girl he loved. As America transforms around him, Clay must navigate between the dying Beat movement and the radical culture emerging in its place. The journey forces him to confront what it means to grow up during a time when civil liberties hang in the balance and the nation itself seems ready to fracture.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, coming-of-age, 21st-century
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Kentucky, New Mexico, New York City
Period: 1960s
288 pages · Paperback · The Overlook Press