Journey to the West

About the Book

It is the 1960s, and Will Langner is a high school thespian who cannot wait to get out of his Texas town and attend college in Austin, where he will never have to see any of his peers again. But Will has no idea his path is about to lead him to a fellow classmate with the power to change everything—even the future.

Danny Abrams swears there is something better than popularity in high school: Zen enlightenment. As the two search for the meaning of life, they finally graduate and embark on a journey that takes them westward from Austin to San Francisco, where they are introduced to acid rock, the macrobiotic diet, and the pure white light. But it is not until they really begin exploring the final frontier between freedom and insanity that the two boys transform into men as life brings them full circle to find the answers they desperately need.

In this historical tale, two boys take a necessary journey from Texas to California during the sixties in search of love, freedom, and the meaning of life.

… This is a novel that is by turns hilarious, sweet, and harrowing … It deserves to be a classic.

—James Magnuson, author and director of the James A. Michener Center for Writers

About the Author

Born in Texas, William Hauptman first traveled to California and New York in the sixties. A graduate of the Yale School of Drama, he is the author of both plays and fiction. Domino Courts won an Obie Award. Big River, an adaptation of Huckleberry Finn, written in collaboration with composer Roger Miller, won seven Tony awards when it opened on Broadway. His fiction has appeared in the Best American Short Stories anthology, and he has published a collection of stories, Good Rockin’ Tonight, and a novel, Storm Season. Hauptman has also contributed journalism to the Atlantic Monthly, Texas Monthly, and the New York Times Magazine and written several screenplays for the studios. He has taught at the James A. Michener Center for Wrriters at the University of Texas, and his work is part of the Southwest Writer’s collection at Texas State University in San Marcos. His daughter, Sarah, is employed by the State Department, and his son, Max, is a captain in the United States Army.