Hippie Homeschooling

by Carlton Smith

After driving his Cadillac into the icy waters beneath the Golden Gate Bridge, Jerry mysteriously wakes up in a San Francisco rehab, before setting off to find his lost son, Ethan. Along the way he meets up with a young runaway named Lily and her anarchist boyfriend, Max. Before long Lily's mother, Talia-an erudite if finicky art professor-joins the group, all of them on the road searching for Ethan, and salvation. Set amid the vast spaces between San Francisco, the Salton Sea, Arizona's Four Corners, Lassen, and the lush banks of California's Russian River, Hippie Homeschooling is a road story that chronicles the end of a hippie dream, a novel that links the remnants of the psychedelic generation to today's twenty-first century hipsters, while it explores the perennial possibility of love.

Genres: Fiction

366 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2013

Reviews

[Lorelei Baughman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dust jacket says this book explores the possibility of love, and I’ll confess that kind of statement usually sends the cynic in me bolting for the exits. Glad I didn’t. This is fine grown-up stuff, with real characters truly drawn, and no sentimentality.

Jerry is a druggie and a drunk (now struggling to reform) who drove himself into the San Francisco Bay and has suffered from serious lapse of memory since. During that lapse his son Ethan has gone missing. Jerry goes to look for him, and it’s on with the road-trip. The characters that Jerry meets along the way morph him into something different and better than he was when he started, and we’re delighted to watch it and applaud. The events are unpredictable and alive, and the dialog is so good we’re right there in the car, at the concert, in the spa with them.

This book is rich stuff, and it’s hard to believe this is a debut novel - Carlton Smith manages that difficult straddle of being both entertaining and literary. Doesn’t matter if you love page-turners or more complex fare, you’ll love this.

[Samantha Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is entertaining, sad, and touching in all the right places. A recovering substance abuser and Jerry Garcia look-alike goes in search of his estranged son. Along the way he meets up with a woman and her wild child daughter and together their search for Ethan takes them across California and the southwest, hitting up all kinds of interesting landmarks and locales. We visit the rotting shores of the Salton Sea and the volcanic lakes in Lassen. We meet all types of characters - from the daughter's druggy festival following boyfriend to Jerry's sponsor and guru. This book is definitely a trip you will want to take.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. I'm giving it 5 stars because I found it to be insightful, touching, and honest. I like how its pace and humor combine with its depth, and that the main character's struggle seems raw and real. I liked that the story takes the reader on a journey and how the various landscapes--internal and external--are presented. The story has atmosphere, action, and romance. Nice, memorable philosophy and symbolism in this work. Tasty.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the details in this book and the last 70 pages were my favorite, they definitely brought the whole story together. Definitely an interesting read I was pleasantly surprised at what happened in the end.