Jack and Bryan have been best friends since they were toddlers. Not only are they best friends, but they are also close competitors, both in academics and in sports. By the time they graduate from high school in 1969, they have both mapped out their life plans. Jack is a math whiz who aims to head into the burgeoning computer field at just the right moment. With Bryan's firm sense of right and wrong, it makes sense that he wants to pursue a career in law. Then the two learn about a three-day music festival that is scheduled to be held in the Catskills, within a few hours' drive of their New York hometown. This event could be their last celebration of the summer, before they part ways and go off to different colleges. So they pack up a car and drive north.

Their story is told in first person by Bryan, many decades later. His memory is jogged in hindsight by looking over letters that he and Jack exchanged over the years since they went to Woodstock. (Bryan never reveals how he got his own letters back. Maybe we just have to suspend our disbelief and to not think too hard over this one.)

While Bryan DID have a substantial life in law, Jack did NOT head to college after the festival. Instead, he connected with a girl at Woodstock. And soon after the concert, the pair were doing their best to live off the grid and off the land in the Catskills, themselves. The days of Jack and Bryan sharing similar life goals and of being close buddies, seemed to be over. The two kept in touch, although only infrequently. And Bryan especially wonders over the possible reasons for their split.

Since Bryan is now a wealthy retiree, he has time to think about the last 55 years. He provides general information about his own life and career. Yet he seems to be most captivated by how different Jack's life turned out to be from his own. He's judgmental at times, pondering Jack's past choices. He tries to understand, but he just can't fully get to a resolution. Since author Howard Reiss has a law degree, too, one has to wonder how autobiographical this novel may be.

This book could have used the scrutiny of an editor or two. Bryan's remembrances follow a real-life human train of thought, which means that he goes over the same ground on more than one occasion. And he tells his story in somewhat random spurts, rather than in chronological order. Even though this is often the way thoughts and memories come to us, it's not necessarily the best way to keep a reading audience engaged. An editor probably would have recommended rearranging or firming up parts of the narration. A line editor would have also caught a variety of stylistic errors when it comes to using the correct punctuation forms for titles of songs, books, and movies.

Still, folks who appreciate the mystique of the Woodstock festival may enjoy reading this novel, especially if they can relate to the experiences of either Jack or Bryan. The story reaches well beyond the summer of '69. And the people who read this book will probably be Baby Boomers who, like Bryan, are now taking some time to reflect on life in general, and their own lives, specifically. What drives us to make our choices? Could it be just one single encounter or object, or is it an accumulation of events? Was Woodstock a trigger or a catalyst, for some? Or do folks have their destinies hidden inside of them, all along? A lot of rumination goes on here.