An unofficial introduction to Stone Junction by Jim Dodge.

"I’ve also come to understand that freedom resides in being equal to your needs, self-determinism requires self-reliance, and that the “self” is the worst idea of Western Civilization (or at least doesn’t excite my imagination as much as the pantheist notion of an extended, constellated identity, as suggested by genetics, ecology, and a kiss"  - Jim Dodge


Stone Junction is the father you never had. It is where optimism and catatonic-despondency intersect as a blister of awareness. It is the point where you feel faith is all that is left and keep ongoing. It is highly recommended by Thomas Pynchon. 
   I read stone junction when I was seventeen, confused, hateful, and on many levels alone. I have read stone junction four other times since then and am about to start on it for the sixth time. It is my favorite work of art. My favorite odyssey. My favorite hope in a world that won't let idealism have a place. If you love Bukowski, then I don't know what to say other than, practiced cynicism is its own reward. Though I suspect for most of us, that and being a jerk make Bukowski a lesser writer. Where Jim Dodge is the greatest philosophical writer of fiction except for maybe Jorge Luis Borges. Has plot's that rival Hunter x Hunter or Thimble Theater is there shear exuberant absurdism that lets you actually (for better or worse) collapse into the diamond (If you have read the stone junction before you will get the reference.)
   I was in a trailer the third time I read Stone Junction, I was starving, confused and hallucinating, but the narrative was a shining light. A preposterous example that the incidental act of typing a letter and putting it in the metaphoric bottle that is a novel can enrich life in transcendental change. I remember reading in three days stretch without food, only sipping at a cup of water that I had to boil and water for the metal to settle at the bottom of the pot. Though I had become obsessed with Daniel and His quest for the six-pound diamond. And learned what another of my favorite entertainments when a character said, "you have to give up what you have, to get what you want." and what I wanted was to understand what I felt the truth was and found it in the pages of Jim Dodge's Writing. Stone Junction, Rain on the river (a poetry collection) and not Fade away (another novel by Jim Dodge.) are all the foundation of my self-education and remain the ultimate examples of what art can be, at least to me. Though Fup, his most popular work, is brilliant, it also fades into the shadows when compared to his other work.
   I know I said this was an introduction, I just can't spoil it for you. I can't take away the magic of surprise that is reading this book. I can not undermine the Taoist equivalent of revelation. It had to be felt and understood first hand and even then only if your willing, not a politician, or jaded so badly that hope offends you. In closing, if you have ever wondered what would happen if you mixed Alan Watts with Bob Dylan by way of L. Frank Baum, then all I can say is I might be able to recommend to you your new favorite book. I hope you give Stone Junction a chance if only because it has changed/saved one life that I know of, and I am tired of feeling guilty for not sharing the lifeboat.
  

https://www.amazon.com/Stone-Junction-Jim-Dodge/dp/0802135854  Also, the bad reviews were by Bukowski fans.