Outrageous

In 1971, after several years of political protesting, investigating Western, Eastern and occult philosophies, frolicking with marijuana and experimenting with LSD, Simon Bishop was exasperated with the oligarchic US government and the unjustifiable war in Vietnam. He flung himself into a 'self-imposed exile', migrating to New Zealand. He was soon followed by Heron, his best friend and fellow explorer into new mental and spiritual realms. The narrator, Heron, as well recounting some entertaining stories of his own wanderings, relates how Simon completed his transformation into Bartooth, a meandering hippy jester. With his guitar strapped to his back and his sometimes-travelling-companion, Zoroaster the kitten, riding on his shoulder, Bartooth hitch hiked all over the country, lived in backwater communes, performed in music festivals, testified (that is, performed) in courtroom drug-busting trials, and eventually settled into a serious quest for spiritual bliss. After participating in several Eastern spiritual/ meditation groups, he found a form of meditation that enables him to find real equanimity.OutRAGEous: them wild manic hippy years is a humorous fictional memoir about an exceptional, charismatic personality. Set half in California and half in New Zealand, OutRAGEous is a collection of funny, entertaining stories that reflect the trends of the 60s and 70s: political protest, experimentation with drugs, unrestrained love affairs, new forms of music, the back-to-the-land/ commune movement, spiritual exploration, etc.