Review: The Summer of Haight by George Petersen

Mesmerizing, deviant, and steeped in counterculture madness, The Summer of Haight by George Petersen is a psychedelic thriller that dares readers to interrogate their animal nature, and even question their grasp on reality. Set against the legendary backdrop of 1967, this Summer of Love story follows a tangled trio as they navigate existential dilemmas and psychedelic schemes across the highs and lows of San Francisco.

Jonathan St. Amour is a secretive psychiatric researcher and a snake-loving socialite who appears to be spiraling into a midlife crisis, despite his debonair attitude and lavish dinner parties. Longfellow is his loyal friend, lawyer, and fellow British expat whose suspicions are aroused when his cat-crazed chum rewrites his will, stubbornly insisting on leaving a small fortune to a decidedly shady hippie named Dr. Asmodeus Youngblood. Ever the voice of reason, Longfellow begins to investigate this bizarre beneficiary, despite Jonathan’s clear warning not to dig into his dramatic decision.

What begins as due diligence and a desire to protect his best friend from suspected blackmail soon morphs into a mind-bending odyssey through the depths of debauchery, careening from smoke-laced basements and feverish dance floors to clandestine stakeouts, harems of impish flower girls, and the iconic Human Be-In of 1967. Slowly peeling back the layers of the mystery, Longfellow must shed his buttoned-up attitude if he wants to infiltrate the starry-eyed inner circle of San Francisco and save his friend from ruin and regret.

Character development is king for Petersen, not only for the main players, but the foils as well, from the embittered Detective Shaughnessy and the chronically worried Millie to Longfellow’s precious dog, proving that there are no small parts in theatre. Youngblood is a masterfully drawn character, a puckish trickster who swerves between mystical and malevolent, perpetually leaving readers one step behind his motives and true nature. Longfellow and Jonathan are a delightfully odd couple at the center of this drama – two male characters marked by such unabashed care and compassion for each other are a refreshing rarity in modern literature.

Beyond the deliriously weird plot, the novel’s explorations of self-discovery and bold boundary pushing are inspiring, albeit disturbing at times. Dancing at the edge of magical realism with its drug-induced drama, and coupled with an occasionally untrustworthy narrator, this is a farcical tour de force that never takes itself too seriously, nor fully shows its cards. Novels inspired by the revolutionary era of free love and radical thinking are not entirely rare, but this one crackles with tongue-in-cheek mischief, as if John Kennedy Toole, Kurt Vonnegut, and Tom Wolfe conspired to craft a flashback classic.

The prose is occasionally blunted by overly procedural narration, extolling the minutiae of physical movements and other unnecessary details that slow the typically steady pace. The abrupt chapter breaks for brief asides or unremarkable cut scenes can be interruptive and choppy, as opposed to the italicized dream sequences that imbue the writing with slow-burning gothic suspense.

Aside from these infrequent stumbles in execution, this is a visionary, sometimes hallucinatory work of fiction, cleverly layered with nostalgia, philosophy, comedy, noirish drama, and a deliciously odd plot that revels in its eccentricity.