Wild Blue Yonder: A Novel Of The 1960s

Author: Vários
Narrator: Vários
Publisher: Podcast
Duration: 12:28:38
More information

Synopsis

Wild Blue Yonder is the coming-of-age story of Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers, a smart but sheltered boy from suburban Chicago whose beloved father suddenly dies, resulting in his flunking out of college. Nate receives a draft notice from the Army but after some encouragement from his mother, decides to enlist in the Air Force instead. It is 1965. Nate is 20 years old. Airman Flowers goes not to Vietnam but Germany, straight into a military Catch-22. His assignment: writing stories as a reporter for the Stars and Stripes newspaper which will never see print. Nate's adventure deepens as he and his fellow troops try to understand why they're there, the military mindset, and the massive social turbulence of 1960s America. Existential, psychedelic, funny, and laced with rock 'n' roll, Wild Blue Yonder is the story of Nate's quest for personal and spiritual values while discovering the meaning of family, friendship, and the love of the girl he left behind."I could not put this novel down, and I did not want the journey to end. This is a well-written, engaging, very funny, thoughtful and bold first novel for this author. - Rita PetersonA coming-of-age story set in the 1960's, Wild Blue Yonder offers what finding yourself really means set against the turmoil of a time, place, and culture so different and similar to today. I heartily recommend this book! - CasieOverall, a great read, highly recommended. - Michael Fedison

Episodes

Memphis Blues Again, Part I

24/05/2015 Duration: 27min

Remember Tony Rizzo, whom Jane and Nate met after the Grateful Dead concert? Well, Tony has decided it’s time for Nate to meet Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and that his rather unique digs in a Napa County vineyard are just the place to partake of Owsley’s Finest.

Listen
Haight Ashbury

24/05/2015 Duration: 41min

Ever wonder what it was like to hang out in the Haight for a kid back in the 1960s? Nate and his roommate Lee find out big-time in this chapter as they unknowingly wander into the Summer of Love. Jane takes Nate on a hike up Mt. Tamalpais, then he takes her for a ride, then she takes him for a trip. And where are those whales anyway? Meanwhile, Nate gets a big dose of Military Madness.

Listen
Goin’ to California

24/05/2015 Duration: 40min

A wacko who runs a pizza joint and greets customers with “Goddammit!” A roommate who drives an arrest-me-red Austin Healy 3000 sports car. A lovely young Irish alcoholic poetess. Haight Ashbury. And Jane. Ah, yes, Jane. What else awaits Nate in California?

Listen
Hurricane

24/05/2015 Duration: 35min

In which our unlikely hero braves Hurricane Betsy and lives to write about it. Not only that, but survives military punishment for doing so. And what happens when Dinky, Hubba-Hubba, JD and his barracks mates celebrate aboard the riverboat? Celebrate what? And what about that 1958 Plymouth Golden Fury he left behind?

Listen
Fall In

24/05/2015 Duration: 36min

To Fall In or Fall Out? That is the question, the philosophical question Nate Flowers must grapple with in Chapter 2. Whether it is better to just fall in and follow orders, try to be just one of the troops, or to relive bittersweet memories of civilian life. As he grows accustomed to barracks life, Nate finds an unexpected kind of camaraderie founded on the protest music of Bob Dylan and Barry McGuire.

Listen
Me or Them

23/05/2015 Duration: 36min

It’s 1965 and Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers, family in disarray, flunked out of college, has enlisted in the U.S. Air Force to avoid being drafted into the Army. As he stands in the cold outside the Chicago Loop Greyhound Bus Terminal, he’s in doubt about that decision: Why does the destination sign on the bus say, “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here”? Why is his mother so eager to get him into the service? Does he have any clue what kind of wild blue yonder he’s about to fly into?

Listen