Memoir of a Reluctant Hippie Kid: Tightrope

A true coming-of-age memoir about a vagabond family led by a self-absorbed, eccentric hippie mother during the age of Aquarius, Don't Call Me Jupiter provides an accurate, visceral, entertaining, real-life perspective into the ups and downs of surviving a hippie childhood with a narcissist as a mother. For fans of Running with Scissors, The Glass Castle, and Educated, this story balances devastating family drama, abandonment, and drugs with laugh-out-loud humor that will keep you turning pages. You'll laugh, cry, and be left begging for more.

The narrative begins with an episode that occurred in 1974, when 12-year-old Tom Bross experiences a sudden move from Davis to San Anselmo to live with their God Family. Just two months later, they move back to Davis with no place to live, and Tom's brother and sisters are dropped off at their friends' houses. It is from this dreary location in the garage of one of his mother's ex-lovers that Tom recalls his family's truly strange transition.

Led by his mother, the Martha Stewart of Hippies, the family transforms from a normal, conservative, Midwestern, Catholic clan into a group of liberal, psychedelic-bus-tripping, pot-smoking, nature-loving, California free spirits. And with most dysfunctional families, there is a cost. As the author notes, "Imagine a 1970's version of Shameless but with less booze, more weed, and way more hallucinogenics."

As you dig deeper into Tom's struggle, you learn how to forgive what you can't forget. The story's devastating family drama, abandonment, and drugs are balanced with laugh-out-loud humor that will keep you engaged and eager for more. Readers of memoirs like Running with Scissors, The Glass Castle, and Educated will find a kindred spirit in this authentic, visceral account of navigating a hippie childhood under the guidance of a narcissistic mother.

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