This account charts the remarkable rise of communalism in the 60's and 70's, as thousands turned their backs on their assigned roles in order to build another world together, outside the state and the market. Using memoir and flashbacks, oral history and archival sources, the extraordinary quest to find an alternative to the traditional nuclear family and the consumptive way of living is richly illuminated. With a focus on the San-Francisco bay area, an important aspect of social history is here made relevant to the current generation.