The Quartzsite Trip

by William Hogan

In 1962, Jack Parr resigned from "The Tonight Show," Richard Nixon gave his last press conference, and Johnny Mathis sang "Misty." And in 1962, English teacher P.J. Cooper led thirty-six high school seniors on a spring vacation jaunt from Los Angeles to the desert near Quartzsite, Arizona. No student could earn the privilege of going on the Quartzsite Trip; it was given, and P.J. Cooper gave it. No activities were planned; they happened, and P.J. Cooper made them happen. What few rules there were were also P.J.'s and he enforced them with a whim of iron. In William Hogan's utterly delightful novel, the Quartzsite Trip turns out to be an utterly memorable experience.

Here, the lion lies down with the lamb, the merciful find mercy, and the meek inherit the earth. Here, the tables are turned, and as they turn we meet a riotous and endearing cast of characters -- among them Deeter Moss, secret cowboy and closet Dodgers expert, who never talked to anybody before he went on the Quartzsite Trip; Margaret Ball, whose moonlit face displayed what pimples hid; Mary Allbright, who had a very secret fear and who, on the Quartzsite Trip, came up with a very secret plan to resolve it; and P.J. Cooper himself, the best teacher anyone ever had, who gave extra credit for Winnie the Pooh and The Catcher in the Rye and who discovered, in 1962, that the Great Equalizer makes rules too.

[From the book jacket]

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

306 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

William Hogan was a columnist and drama, film, and finally for 27 years literary editor for the San Francisco Chronicle until his retirement in 1982.

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2021, I asked for book recommendations.
In 2021, a friend recommended this book.
In 2021, I requested this book from Storage at the Allen County Public Library. It was available three days later. I checked it out.
In 2021, a friend named Nicole recommended this book and I checked it out and read it
In 2021, this was a very unique book.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my top 5 favorite novels of all time. Next to The Catcher in the Rye, it's a classic coming of age story. I worked in a Waldenbooks for many years and the Avon (paperback publisher) rep recommended this novel to one of my employees. After he read it, he recommended it to the rest of the staff and we all loved it. Yes, it's repetitious and yes, the ending is a bit out there, but this novel (and the great character of Deeter Moss) has stuck with me for the last 25 years or more. I used to buy paperback copies to give as gifts and then it went out of print. I even had customers that would come in and beg me to sell them one of the copies they knew I had purchased, because they also used to purchase and give to their friends. It's the only novel I have ever paid $100 for when I found it on a used book site.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an obscure book, but so good. It was in my junior high library, and we all read it for the dirty parts. But it stuck with me in so many ways - besides the sex, there is a very rich story. I read it several times in school, and found a copy in a used bookstore in the 90s. This was the first time I picked it up in a long time, but it has certainly held up. And now, thanks to the internet, I can look up things like tadpole shrimp, and I can use Google Maps to see what the town of Quartzsite really looks like (including the Q on the mountain).

[Kristy McGinnis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have tried without success to remember the name of this book for 35 years, and a bookish friend found this after I described what I recalled.

This was one of my favorite reads in my high school years. Deep, poignant, beautiful.... and yes I am eagerly going to reread now that I found the title!

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This made the rounds of every one of my college friends; at our 20th college reunion in October 2007 people were *still* talking about it. One of the best coming-of-age teenage-angst books ever ever ever.

[Wendy Lugo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming of age book, published in the early 80's. At the time it was very popular. I had multiple copies, all got passed out, then they got passed out again, and I rarely, if ever, had them returned.

What was special about the books was how accurately the author portrayed the awkwardness of being a teenager. Especially for the kids who don't quite "fit." One of his characters, I believe her name was "Margaret" was unforgettable.

The basic premise is that a charismatic teacher takes a group of kids each year, who are selected by no given set of parameters that the kids can understand on a "mystery trip." All the kids hope to go, but only a few are able to.

He takes a group of kids, a mixture of jocks, pretty girls, nerds, wannabes, misfits, zit-faces, and others out into the desert, and leaves them to their own devices. He is there, but the story is really about how the kids come into contact, conflict and ultimately gain more understanding of one another. It's a fantastic book. Probably a bit dated now, and it might even seem "sweet" by today's terms. But I remember it fondly. If you can get your hands on a copy, I highly recommend it. I recently found one, used, and am holding onto it for my daughter.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished re-reading this book, which I probably have not done since high school. I'm glad to report that it still stands up wonderfully. I picked up on a lot more things this time as well. Just love Deeter Moss. I feel silly that I didn't see the ending at P.J's fate coming from a mile away. It was so obvious this time around. The repetition is sort of annoying, but the rest of the book's wonderfulness makes up for it.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual but intriguing. There was a point I was debating whether to finish it due to all the repetition, but the repetition helps the reader to keep things straight since there are so many characters and details. It also creates a somber, almost journalistic experience, which I'm sure was intentional due to the content and purpose of the book. The last few pages of the book made it all worthwhile.

[Dewayne Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm right up there with most of the reviews on this book. I read it in high school (around 1982 I think) and have reread it several times, and have recommended and loaned multiple copies out to friends and never got them back. I actually liked the repetition; it was the first time I'd read anything written quite like that. It's a novel that I'd like to see made into a movie some time, although I'm not so sure it could be adapted quite right.

[Richard Downey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one on my favorite books to read. It's a magical "coming of age" story in the best sense of that term. It explores the stereotypes of high school hierarchy and social expectations and how they dissolve when the students are placed into a totally foreign environment. That sounded very stuffy for a book that is a delight from cover to cover. But that is as it should be because the Great Equalizer knows the rerasons why.

[Gregory Orr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in high school, the same age as the kids in the story. This story has stayed with me for 28 years. A high school teacher takes about 25 kids on a weekend trip that changes and awakens all of them. This book has been out of print for over 20 years. Im really happy to buy a copy for my bookshelf today. Reading this again will be a reunion. Wish they made it on Kindle.

[Mary Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read and reread this wonder - I purchased my own copy through E-Bay after fussing about to get a copy to read again. This is the my favorite coming-of-age story, about a high school camping trip pre-1963.

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Father used to bring me home books by the box from estate sales and this was one of the better finds. I read and re-read this coming of age tale many times during my high school years even though I found the teacher who picked the kids for the trip to be totally insufferable even back then.

[Cristina Becker]

I read this as a 12 year old and an adult. Great character development and good job of showing how people's connections and relationships change when they are no longer in their normal environment.

[Hollie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and remember it as a surprising favorite, found more than 20 years after it came out. I LOVED the effect of the repetition. I found it mesmerizing and avantgarde like Beat Poetry. (Which, I'll admit, can be annoying sometimes.) I remembered the style so fondly that 10 years after reading it, when, for my Toastmaster's Club I had to do a 'reading' as a speech project, I picked this. My evaluator hated it and told me that "at least for this reading" I should have removed the repetition. Anh, what can I say? Some people don't get it.

(Review written for myself when I first read the book in 2006:)

A book this good can redeem fiction for me. It's the story of an elite class field trip from John Muir High School in LA in 1962. It's told in a repetitious style that, far from being boring or repetitive, is refreshing, enlightening and even fun. I truly loved this book and it will likely be my top read this year. In 1962 36 Seniors at John Muir High School will be invited on the Quartzsite Trip. They will be invited by PJ Cooper, the English Teacher. There is no rhyme or reason to who is invited. You cannot do anything to obtain an invitation. It is not earned, but rather given. They will drive all day in a school bus and spend the week before Easter in a large bowl-like campground in the desert. Wow. I don't even know what more to say. The kids don't know really what they're in for, nor do they know why they all hope to be among the invited 36. PJ Cooper is charismatic, the kids actually like him, they actually learn from him when they're in his classes. PJ Cooper perceives the Quartzsite Trip as something from The Great Equalizer. He picks the kids and takes them to the desert. Strange things happen to and between the Seniors who go on the Quartzsite Trip. Nothing so strange as to be out of the realm of ordinary life, but yet it is so very far from the realm of ordinary life, because THEY have been invited on the Quartzsite Trip!

[Terry Cornell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A hard book to classify in a genre. Basically, a coming of age story set in Southern California and the Arizona Desert in 1962. Really, I'd give this book a two and a half star rating. I couldn't quite give it a three star, because I found the author's writing style annoying at times. I loved the nostalgia of Southern California in the early '60s, as well as all the teenage angst. I also enjoyed the descriptions of Quartzite, and Blythe having traveled through both. A couple of twists and turns at the end helped make this an even more enjoyable read.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is the book The Catcher in the Rye wanted to be.

It's really wonderful. I read it when it first came out, and return to it every decade or so. It never gets old and there are new wonders each time.

I can only agree with the person who asked, who is William Hogan? I'd love to know more about him.

[Deborah Beckmann Kotzubei · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books of all time. Hilarious and sweet. I have given copies of this book to my kids, my parents, and numerous friends. Each recipient has loved it and names it as one of their favorites of all time. Such a joy to read. Set in 1962 but timeless - high school students as they were and as they are.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

YA... is it really? Is The Catcher in the Rye? Breakfast of Champions?

[Judy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book because I saw it listed in a book on writing as a good example of using multiple viewpoints to tell a story. Most of the reviews I read gave the book five stars and called it "hilarious" and wonderful. I'm afraid I wasn't that taken with it.

I found the style--the constant repetitions and arch tone--to be emotionally distancing and even annoying. Because the author takes you in and out of characters' heads, there wasn't a character I liked well enough to care about. The events of the story (a high school spring break trip to Quartzsite, Arizona in 1962) didn't appeal to me, either. I think I just didn't enjoy my own high school experiences enough to want to relive adolescence. (I didn't like Twilight for much the same reason.)

Unlike "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien--in which the repetition becomes a litany, adding weight and significance to a list, I found Hogan's repetition to be just annoying after a while. There were some interesting features of the style, for one thing, the trip doesn't actually start until the second half of the book, the entire first half is anticipation, and the reader experiences it right along with the high schoolers.

I did recommend this book to my husband. I think he'd find the events funnier than I did, and the book is certainly interesting from a literary point of view.

[Lghamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 2015,if goodreads had half stars, this book would get a rating of 3.5. In 2015, goodreads only has whole stars, so this is getting downgraded to a 3. In 2015, one would think that a site such as goodreads, founded by Stanford grads, would figure out how to add a half star. In 2015, another option, if goodreads did not want to deal with half stars, would be to make the scale 1-10, adding a little more detail to the ratings. In 2015, if goodreads had a scale of 1-10, I would give this book a 7.

This book was highly recommended by a friend. I plowed through it because of the foreshadowed "Great Equalizer" event, but this was after having to read through many passages of penis length in 1962, how to dry hump in 1962, and which girls from John Muir High were good girls and which were whores in 1962. In discussing with hubby, who likened it to John Irving, I am re-considering the frantic and pathetic sex scenes and wondering if the author meant them to be hilarious-pathetic rather than straight-pathetic and, in at least one scene, somewhat rapey. I admit that the ending is Irving-esque.

Note that this book preceded all Irving books.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old friend recommended and loaned this book to my high school senior daughter who also enjoyed it. I also liked it but not quite as much as the two of them. I found the style to be interesting and creative but ultimately distracting - sort of like a science experiment that didn't quite work. The plot reminded me a bit of The Breakfast Club (but cruder) and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Perhaps this earlier work influenced them. If that one meaningful teacher in your past was the cool teacher who acted more like your cool, slightly subversive friend than a traditional teacher, you will probably love this. If, like me, you were inspired by competence without the "cool" factor, you may still like this, but perhaps for different reasons. A couple of things that I found strange but maybe are signs of the times.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was 12 and curious, interestingly enough I was living in a Nabokov field and given this book by my lascivious Humbert. It marks a point in my life where, yes, I was sexually awakened but the book brought more to me than that of its heightened sexuality. It was a marked read in my life. The tale introduced me to creative style and increased my reading maturity. Back and fourth from 1st person to 3rd person narrative. That is what happens on The Quartzsite Trip. Consider this your invitation.

[Brittany Redding · Rating 5 out of 5]

On August 27 2025, Brittany Redding reread The Quartzsite Trip.
In 2025, The Quartzsite Trip was 45 years old.
The Quartzsite Trip was about a bunch of high school seniors connecting, fooling around, and experiencing freedom for the first time on a trip with their "cool" teacher. In The Quartzsite Trip, there was a lot of weird unsexy semi realistic adolescent smut.
In 2025, "smut" was slang for obscene writing.
In 2025, Brittany Redding appreciated the style of William Hogan's writing of The Quartzsite Trip.

[Trux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in high school and LOVED it; a whole lot of masturbation fodder for me, but much more than that, too.

[Carlos Pedraza · Rating 4 out of 5]

A refreshing young adult novel that holds up well 30 years after it was written and 50 years after it was set.