Beercans on the Side of the Road: The Story of Henry the Hitchhiker

This first novel, based on Wachsberger's experiences as a hitchhiker during the 1960s, is an evocation of the early, innocent days of America's youthful counterculture. Wachsberger's hero, Henry Freedman (the least obvious of the ""meaningful'' names Wachsberger gives his characters), ambivalent about his plans for law school and frustrated in his secretarial job, sets out for a jaunt across America with only his knapsack, garden-variety idealism and dream of becoming a writer. Along the way he is introduced to marijuana, local law enforcement agents and fellow travelers on the highway of life. Wachsberger's trite observations on the need for personal freedom and the hypocrisy of middle-class American values make for a stale blast from the past. Despite its obvious sincerity and mildly engaging style, Beercans adds little to our understanding of an era that, for a while, threatened to shake our windows and rattle our walls. (May)