Green Freedom — Joe David Bellamy

Luke McGee lives an ordinary life -- he works a mind-numbing job at a PR company, where he hates his boss and directs his fury at his ever-failing typewriter, while his wife, Annie, stays at home taking care of their newborn baby, feeling dissatisfied. Enter Wain Bagley, recent prison inmate and aspiring Nietzsche reincarnate. He bursts into their lives, bringing his grandiose plans and uninhibited personality, and infuses the dreary McGee household with excitement and possibility. Wain becomes both their friend and a powerfully destructive force in their lives, and the McGees find themselves players in yet another of Wain's elaborate -- and illegal -- plans. Fearing that the law may soon catch up with them, Luke quits his job and moves his family to Green Freedom, a utopian community Luke has always fantasized about. This new life could have been a dream come true -- if only Wain hadn't come with them. Amid the rising turmoil in the story, the narration is playful and the characters never fail to charm. Every obstacle they face points to life's comedy. Green Freedom is a historical novel of the 1960s, a character portrait, and a journey of self-discovery all in one -- beautifully orchestrated to take readers on a wild adventure.