EAT THE DOCUMENT (2006) by Dana Spiotta

This terrific book centers on a pair of 1970's Weather Underground radicals (Merry Whittaker and Bobby DeSotto) who have been on the lamb for 20 years after commiting a terrorist bombing. You of course get a feel for what it would be like to have to assume false identities and fear the law catching up to you at any moment. But what I really liked about this book was meeting the young 1990's Gen-Xers that the two main charactors lives now revolve around. Marys teenage son, Jason, is obessed with the music of his mothers youth, especially the Beach Boys (He has every album and obscure limited edition single and seems to think about them every waking hour). While DeSotto now runs a San Franciso bookstore populated with teenage "radicals" who do little except talk about the harmless pranks they want to pull on big box store chains. I could really indentify with these kids, being of the same age and having had the same fasination with 1960's culture. (In my case, collecting as many Grateful Dead tapes I could get my hands on). For me, these '90s teenagers are what makes this book worth tracking down.

DROP CITY (2003) by T.C. Boyle

Taking its name from a real 1960's artist community called Drop City, T.C. Boyles 2003 work reminds me of The Electric Cool-Aid Acid Tests by Tom Wolfe, one of my favorite books. Unlike the Merry Pranksters of the "Acid Tests," the denizens of Drop City seem mainly interested in Free Love and drug use but without any over riding ethos (other then to get really high). Conflict brews in this environment and eventually the commune picks up and moves to the Alaskan wilderness. Here the the laid back vide gives way to a struggle to survive the harsh Alaskan environment. I enjoyed this book as it gives a more complex look of counterculture life when reality began to chip away at the utopian dream.

SEX ON THE MOON (2011) By Ben Mezrich

This is not a "Dusty Read." In fact it is a brand new book. But I thought it was worth a mention. A very quick read, it is clearly written with a future movie in mind. (It was hard not to picture movie sets and visual scenes while reading this book.) All that said, I really enjoyed the story. The main charactor is very compelling, even though he is a crook. Maybe wait for the paperback though.

THROUGH BLACK SPRUCE (2008) By Joseph Boyden

I really liked this one. Story is built around members of the Cree Indian group in Moosonee, Ontario, at the Southern tip of James Bay. Will Bird is a Bush Pilot closely connected to his land and culture. Annie Bird his niece is a trapper and hunter but has just returned from Manhattan in search of a lost sister. Suspenseful yet beautifully written, I didn't want this one to end. Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize.

NEVER LET ME GO (2005) by Kazuo Ishigurao

Just Plain Creepy is the best way to desribe Ishiguro's 2005 novel about a strange prep school where the students are being prepared for an unkown future that they are told (and believe) is key to societys survival. But questions and doubt begin to enter into the students thoughts. The reader is left guessing what will happen to these kids until the shocking end. Excellent!