The Trip Into Milky Way

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It is the end of the sixties, a decade marred by student protests and assassinations, the war in Vietnam and civil strife, but a decade also distinguished by peace and love, a celebration of newfound freedoms and by great achievements like American astronauts landing on the moon. For Clay Matthews, the quixotic hero of "The Trip Into Milky Way, " these sweeping tides of history and his personal hopes and dreams all come to a head when a draft notice arrives in the mail, the destiny of Clay's life irreversibly altered when he decides to walk out of an induction center two weeks later, the tale of his life transformed into the other side of Vietnam and what happens to a young man who refuses to die for his country. Just as a generation was forever defined by that misguided war, Clay's solitary journey into manhood careens down an alternative path once he makes his headlong decision to avoid it. From the enchanted shores of Hawaii to a sojourn with his lover Caroline on the deserted beaches of Matzatlan, from incarceration in a Mexican prison to the daring helicopter raid that follows, Clay has but one thought on his mind, to find a place in the sun for he and Caroline to hide. Driven in equal parts by a rebellious streak and his hopelessly romantic nature, Clay hardly considers how this flight from justice might affect his love affair with Caroline, but he is soon to learn that no man can outrun his own karma, as even in his valiant effort to go back and rescue Kip, a friend left behind in the Mexican prison, death and disaster find him, leading Clay to this despairing realization. Dying for one's country may well have been easier than the path he is on. Resigned to his restless odyssey, but with few places left to hide in this world, Clay meets a host of colorful sixties characters who help guide him along the way, among them Stan, a world weary chopper pilot from Vietnam, Faith, an expatriate slumming in sleepy San Blas, and Eric, a Bhagavad-Gita toting friend from his past, each of them playing a role in Clay's quest for enlightenment yet unable to provide him with lasting peace he so desires. Only when Clay flees back to the wisdom of Jijiwa, a Papajo Indian shaman he has befriended in the mountains of Sonora, does the mist of bewilderment begin to clear from Clay's heart. But will his newfound wisdom reveal the keys to rescuing Kip? And will the principled Caroline and headlong Clay finally find a place in the sun to share? "The Trip Into Milky Way" ends in a touching conclusion of this vagabond's epic journey.