In 1914, a counterculture grows in the German woods -- artists and anarchists fleeing cities, money, and the Internet of their time: telephones, telegraph, electricity. There's a better life to be had, with flowing hair, naked farming, Expressionist art and freedom.

As the Great War looms closer these bohemians take off for California, "the America of America," where rumor says you can get away with living your own life. The Lanzes, a family of four from Berlin, follow them to San Bernardino County, where Sunland, their wild desert flower of a settlement, takes root.

"I was immediately drawn in. What a wonderful novel about an unusual group of California pioneers -- sly, knowing, and deeply human."

Marilyn Johnson, author of The Dead Beat, This Book Is Overdue, and Lives in Ruins

"The Current Fantasy is a rich, original novel whose prose often lifted me off the page with its jolts of revelation."

John Thorndike, author of The World Against Her Skin

"The Current Fantasy explodes on the retina like a tintype brought to life... It has heart, soul, art, and the promise of Giant Vegetables, equally charming and alarming as it tells what is perhaps the last great untold chapter of the California Story."

Don Wallace, author of The French House and One Great Game, editor of The Hawaii Review of Books