Mark Ellis

The House at Channing and Moonsail Mark Ellis

This coming-of-age quest for meaning and romance careens through Berkeley in the 70s and Orange County in the early 80s.




Shipped off to college at Berkeley in the early 1970s, the author found himself at the epicenter of profound cultural changes, where pot smoking was a sacramental feature of dorm life, along with streaking, "Deep Throat," Ram Dass, and a stripper from Texas. In this wildly immersive and quixotic tale of his quest to find love, the author discovered himself in close proximity to the kidnapping of an heiress, the murder of a celebrity ski racer, and a panty raid that landed him in jail.




It culminates in the author finding two great loves within a few months of each other. Told with unusual candor, the book stumbles upon cultural markers and minefields that were "clouds the size of a man's hand" 40 years ago.




Through it all, a liberating thread weaves its way through this fast-paced, compelling narrative that results in an extraordinary finale offering reassurance and hope in the journey to find the truest love.