BookView Review

BookView Review rated it:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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Publication Date: June 30, 2023

Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Genre: Fiction, LGBTQ

ISBN: 978-1-63988-858-0

List Price: $16.99 USD Trade Paperback

Page Count: 196

Author interview

A young gay man sets out on a journey of self-realization in the blooming hippie culture of San Francisco in Sebastian’s intriguing novel. Arnie aka Gator loves both his new name and his new lifestyle in the happening city of San Francisco. Living in Adler’s Ashram, Gator is keen to begin his job managing a rock band, unaware what adventures, misadventures and tragedy await him ahead. Sebastian draws his characters with care. He beautifully offers a window into the chaotic, humanly flawed inhabitants of Adler’s Ashram, including the future rock star Wabash Jones, the social magnets Nola and Victor Granola, the passionate and adventurous Jeepster Joe, and the assured and endearing Gator, understanding their complicated relationship dynamics. With compassion and insight, he explores the loyalties and frustrations that ebb and flow among these strangers as they morph into friends, lovers, and back to strangers. Sebastian deftly handles his layered plot, embedding themes of cultural revolution, sexuality, self-realization, intricacies of relationships, and transformative power of love and friendship into a fast-paced, engaging narrative that keeps readers thoroughly invested. All these disparate threads come together to form a denouement that’s both satisfying and life-affirming. An intriguing and engaging tale of self-discovery, kinship, and romance, that makes for a winner.

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