Still Point Publishing
The Making of a Field Hippie by Joe Mirenna is a coming of age tale providing insight into the Back-to-the-Land movement of the 1970s. Written lightly with self deprecating humor and vivid description, the memoir reads like a novel. The story follows the psychological development of a lonely, anxious, insecure, and admittedly privileged New Jersey Sicilian American who struggles with a generation's rapidly changing values and the pressures to succeed in a conventional world.
His projected path is shattered by sudden self-realization, and through the chance encounters of new acquaintances, a world is opened that includes the discovery of American Roots music and the dream of living simply in rural Appalachia.
With the acquisitions of a banjo that he can't play and an unruly dog for a companion, his inevitable migration is filled with comical pitfalls of ineptitude, unforeseen obstacles, and new ways to define "family." Along the way, dreams are realized as he finds purpose and direction as a professional musician at the heart of a major folk revival of old-time music and dance.
His projected path is shattered by sudden self-realization, and through the chance encounters of new acquaintances, a world is opened that includes the discovery of American Roots music and the dream of living simply in rural Appalachia.
With the acquisitions of a banjo that he can't play and an unruly dog for a companion, his inevitable migration is filled with comical pitfalls of ineptitude, unforeseen obstacles, and new ways to define "family." Along the way, dreams are realized as he finds purpose and direction as a professional musician at the heart of a major folk revival of old-time music and dance.
(Sorry, no Canadian sales...Costs $17 to ship)