Well, this is drug war propaganda before the war was formally declared, it even has the infamous Ronald Reagan quote about hippies in it. The protagonist is a self-confessed conservative that regularly attends mass and has an unhealthy obsession with his older brother. "...All I understand is that he used to belong to me and he doesn't now." - pg.123. What a way to endear him to the reader.
It is also evident that the author had no experience whatsoever in "taking" marijuana. The first time the protagonist smokes it with his brother he hallucinates about devils and angels telling him to do things. The rest of the book is definitely not subtle at all about the "drugs are bad" message and "God" with a capital "G" is plastered and uttered all through this thing. I did enjoy a bit of this book though despite the anti-drug pro-religion dumpster fire that it is.
The second third of the book mostly involves a trip with both brothers through the streets of New York trying to score some acid. I enjoyed the brothers wandering the streets talking to people the older brother thought were in the know. I especially liked their trip through a strangely desolate hippy den. This was the most interesting and energetic part of the book. The rest of it sucks as I mentioned previously.
This YA screed was a quick read, I read it in about an hour, so there is that. Would I recommend this book to anyone? No, I would not. ( )

1968. This book was pretty good. It's about a kid who freaks out on acid and recovers. A little moralistic, but cool scenes in the Village and on the subway. Hippies and the Digger's Free Store. Pleasingly dated. They make the scene and say groovy. ( )