Ronald Schulz recounts four months of his life in the summer and fall of 1969 as an often homeless, often hungry hippie-freak on the streets of Chicago and New York City, and on the highways in between as he hitchhikes back and forth trying desperately to find a higher purpose and true love.

In this memoir. Schulz writes vivid and emotional descriptions of the sounds and scents of protest. The opening scene is dramatic, intense, and frightening. Yet while all this is happening, he humanizes the conflict by weaving in revelations of personal thoughts and decisions that add meaning to the choices he made.

I was reminded of Holden Caufield in A Catcher in the Rye. Schulz takes the reader on a journey through the counterculture and does so through a teenager’s (himself) perspective. In this journey, Schulz throws himself into adventure and love with abandon. Just as he adjusts to his new circumstances, he is thrown into a new scene and with a new young woman in which he believes is going to be wonderful and special until they are not. But by then he has found a new direction to go in and a new lover to do it with. 

I felt transported to the streets of 60s Chicago and found it fascinating. The characters described are also fascinating and raw and shown through the lens of drugs.

Yes, Shultz offers a window into a raw and open life many of us of that age did not experience. He presents his views and perspectives that drove his need to protest, but while comparing it back to his family of origin.  

He shared the confusion he experienced while sorting out his political beliefs and philosophy of life.

I read this book quickly and the scenes still play on inside my head.