The Misadventures of John Stuckey

A thrilling, comic stroll through 1980s San Francisco and a pre-Internet ensemble of sorcerers, cults, megalomaniacs, and a man determined to follow a deep practice of laziness.

In an exhilarating mix of Raymond Chandler and Richard Brautigan comes the story of James Stuckey and a charged, shambolic year through the eccentric fringe of the San Francisco Bay Area. Stuckey, stubbornly devout to a habit of laziness, inadvertently collides with a megalomaniac cult leader and his followers and is forced to begrudgingly face himself and take action. His careening, chaotic misfortunes finally culminate in a tense, near-deadly battle with a sorcerer.

Set in 1986, before Northern California was a playground for Silicon Valley titans, The Misadventures of John Stuckey brings to life the nonconformity and unapologetic weirdness of the pre-Internet days, when getting rich quick required convincing others that if only they do what you say, they will grow rich in your shadow.

In his first work of long-form fiction, Marc Allen, renowned author and publisher at New World Library, which he founded in 1977 with Shakti Gawain, spins an imaginative tale that is perfect for fans of The Big Lebowski, Tom Robbins, and Robert Pirsig. The Misadventures of John Stuckey is an electric, philosophical, and deeply funny journey.