Pipedream meets reality along Route 66. Charged up with expectation, Henry Collins, a man with a subconscious Magnum fixation, and his band of argonauts explore the beat generation trail. Searching for the ghosts of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, they rub shoulders with next generation beats in roadhouses and speakeasies, and survivors from the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Recognising their romantic visions of beatdom are tainted with fallacy and paradox, after six weeks on Route 66 travelling from Chicago to LA and returning to the Windy City on a northerly route, they exit the world of intellectual and down and out beats, flushed with an appreciation that no counterculture, no matter how seductive, approaches perfection.

Differing themes and voices, some classic, some contemporary, others though mysterious, planted firmly in reality. All used to depict an assortment of psychological suspense thrillers, coming of age sagas and modern satires.

An innovative critical study emphasizing thematic and narrative complexities arising from the poet's use of language.

The Greek gods, goddesses, and heroes come alive as they fight, love, bicker, and give advice to confused human beings in these imaginative dialogues. It is easy to find their experiences and emotions reflected in our own lives. The author, Betty Mallett Smith, brings a trained philosophical mind, as well as a long study of Greek literature and art, to bear on the ancient myths. The work also reflects her deep experience of modern depth psychology, especially that of C. G. Jung.