Faced with a government they could not trust and a war they did not want, the burn outs went to Haight Ashbury, the drop outs went around the world.

If you were free, completely free with no ties or commitments: you could go anywhere, do anything - what would you choose? wanting no part of a war he didn't believe in, packed a bag, picked up his guitar and sixteen harmonicas and headed out into the world. What followed was the ultimate drop-out adventure. Amsterdam and the jungles of Africa, he smoked chillums with the lepers of India, trance-danced at a death ceremony in Tibet, developed a heroin habit in Bangkok, nearly died driving through the poppy fields of Thailand with a kamikaze cab driver and found the girl of his dreams in wintry Stockholm. about turning on, tuning in and dropping out. In a world full of larger than life characters, and where the only limitation is your own imagination, Terry Tarnoff went in search of answers - and, amazingly, found some. Along the way he had the craziest road trip you'll ever encounter.

Fiction. Literary Nonfiction. In 1971, Terry Tarnoff packed a bag, a guitar and sixteen harmonicas and headed out on an eight year journey that would take him into the jungles of Africa, the mountains of India and beyond. This account of his revelatory journey is a tumultuous love story, a spiritual odyssey, and a rollicking escapade all rolled up into one. Tarnoff is a fevered, risk-taking writer with an uncanny ability to render place. THE BONE MAN OF BENARES is a lunatic bird of a book, flapping, singing, soaring, often all at the same time. It's a wild-hearted celebration of cross-cultural discovery, a laugh-out-loud, delirious adventure that traverses the chasm of time, speaking to readers young and old about the universal need for connection. "THE BONE MAN OF BENARES is the kind of sweeping, atmospheric epic they just don't make any more. Terry Tarnoff renders this engaging young-man-on-the-road saga with the heightened elan of a bangi-abusing Paul Theroux or hippied-out E. M. Forster. In the grand tradition, THE BONE MAN OF BENARES stands out as the best kind of contempo literary globe-trotting. It does what a great novel should do--leave you feeling like you've been there."--Jerry Stahl "Terry Tarnoff is a writer whose every word, like a great blues master's instrumental solos, pulls you into his world. THE BONE MAN OF BENARES is the extraordinary real life saga of a modern day harmonica-playing Don Quixote, telling us his story with irresistible gusto and elan. Tarnoff makes you feel at home as you ride by his side on his global tour, sharing one incredible adventure after another. The trials and tribulations of romance and self-discovery, all set in exotic locales, make this adventure tale alternately engrossing, touching and hilarious. From the very first page until the last, it is nearly impossible to put the book down, and even more enjoyable to read the second time."--David Amram "Terry Tarnoff's book, THE BONE MAN OF BENARES, calls to the reader like a train-whistle moaning in the distance. Written with rhythm and blues, it's the picaresque tale of a '60s expatriate looking for adventure all over the globe. But underneath the exotica is something even more compelling, the voice of a bona fide soul singer, a latter-day pilgrim, seeking the spiritual meaning of the road. Read this book for the literary rock and roll ride of your life."--Phil Cousineau "For those who lived through the several-years-long Summer of Love, Terry Tarnoff's THE BONE MAN OF BENARES will provide satisfying doses of wincing nostalgia. For those who didn't, here is an entertaining manual of what they missed."--Herbert Gold "I laughed (rollicked) my way through THE BONE MAN OF BENARES. Terry Tarnoff is one of the funniest writers I've ever read, maybe because so much serious depth underlies the humor. Lots of people made those road trips in the 60's; few got any lasting insights out of them. Tarnoff clearly has."--Gerald Nicosia

A rollicking, sexy memoir of a young poet making his way in 1960s New York City When he graduated from Columbia in 1958, John Giorno was handsome, charismatic, ambitious, and eager to soak up as much of Manhattan's art and culture as possible. Poetry didn't pay the bills, so he worked on Wall Street, spending his nights at the happenings, underground movie premiers, art shows, and poetry readings that brought the city to life. An intense romantic relationship with Andy Warhol—not yet the global superstar he would soon become—exposed Giorno to even more of the downtown scene, but after starring in Warhol's first movie, Sleep, they drifted apart. Giorno soon found himself involved with Robert Rauschenberg and later Jasper Johns, both relationships fueling his creativity. He quickly became a renowned poet in his own right, working at the intersection of literature and technology, freely crossing genres and mediums alongside the likes of William Burroughs and Brion Gysin. Twenty-five years in the making, and completed shortly before Giorno's death in 2019, Great Demon Kings is the memoir of a singular cultural pioneer: an openly gay man at a time when many artists remained closeted and shunned gay subject matter, and a devout Buddhist whose faith acted as a rudder during a life of tremendous animation, one full of fantastic highs and frightening lows. Studded with appearances by nearly every it-boy and girl of the downtown scene (including a moving portrait of a decades-long friendship with Burroughs), this book offers a joyous, life-affirming, and sensational look at New York City during its creative peak, narrated in the unforgettable voice of one of its most singular characters.

Fiction. Literary Nonfiction. California Interest. When screenwriter Tobias Parker discovers that every family on Earth is here to accomplish a particular task, he becomes determined to fulfill his family's destiny. He learns that a unique battle is passed through the generations from father to son and mother to daughter, and that once the mission is fulfilled the family takes its place in a kind of celestial jigsaw puzzle. As Tobias embarks on his quest, his life becomes a breathless whirlwind which throws Hollywood, a misbegotten romance, and an arcane religious artifact into a roiling stew. His topsy-turvy, existential journey takes him to some hilarious highs, devastating lows, and leads him to ponder a whole bagful of thought- provoking ideas. In the end, Tobias discovers his family's profound destiny and learns not only the meaning of his own life but provides a big clue for the rest of us as well. "THE THOUSAND YEAR JOURNEY OF TOBIAS PARKER is a tour de force. Hilariously funny, thoughtful and multi-dimensional, it's a roller coaster ride up and down San Francisco's Telegraph Hill and around Washington Square, fueled by a Hollywood action-adventure retelling of Wagner's biblical opera, Parsifal. Evoking the likes of Confederacy of Dunces sprinkled with Ask The Dust, our raving hero in this case, Tobias Parker, the prolific screenwriter, also brings to mind the movie hero Barton Fink as Tarnoff deeply mines what he knows, for laughs, romance and a little enlightenment on the side."—Jody Weiner "After reading THE BONE MAN OF BENARES, many of us hoped to hear more tales of adventure from Terry Tarnoff. He has done it again with his customary gusto and we don't need to worry about waiting for THE THOUSAND YEAR JOURNEY OF TOBIAS PARKER to be made into a film because when reading this delightful new book, you have a front row seat and are already in the movie itself. Terry Tarnoff has the gift of making the reader feel that he or she is part of the story. This is the gift of great story tellers."—David Amram

Far Out charts the history of Western countercultural longing for Nepal that made the country, and Kathmandu in particular, a premier tourist destination in the twentieth century. Anthropologist and historian Mark Liechty describes three distinct phases: the immediate post-war era when the country provided a Raj-like throwback experience for rich foreigners (mainly Americans), Nepal s emergence as the most exotic outpost of hippie counterculture in the 1960s and early 70s, and, finally, the Nepali state s rebranding of itself as an adventure destination from the 1970s on. Liechty is attuned to how the dynamics of mid-twentieth century globalizationthe Cold War and shifting international relations, modernization and development ideologies, the rise of consumerist middle classes, increased mobility and the birth of mass tourism, and emerging global youth counterculturesdrew Nepal into the web of geopolitical, economic, and sociocultural transformations that shaped the modern world. But Liechty doesn t want to tell the story of tourism as something that just happened to Nepalis. He shows how Western projections of Nepal as an isolated place inspired creative Nepali enterprises and paradoxically gave locals the opportunity to participate in the highly coveted global economy. The result is a readable cultural history of a place that has been in many ways defined by a (sometimes bizarre) cultural encounter. The author s lifelong interest in Nepal and his almost twenty-five years of research make his account both sophisticated and empathicbut not without a touch of humor."

It was a different time in a different world... Terry Tarnoff spent eight years during the 1970s traveling throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. It was the early days of exploring what were to become legendary spots on the traveler's trail. Whether playing the clubs of Amsterdam, skirting the Yakuza in Japan, surviving the winters of Kathmandu, or forming a band in Goa, India, Terry's adventures are alternately engrossing, hilarious and deeply moving. Once Upon a Time in Goa is Tarnoff's long-awaited follow-up to "The Bone Man of Benares," a highly acclaimed book and play that told the first half of the story. "Once Upon a Time in Goa" continues the tale, adding new meaning as it looks back from the perspective of modern times upon a period that continues to fascinate people of all generations across the globe.