This book investigates the practical realities and social structures of intentional communities operating within the United States during the early 1970s. Richard Fairfield, a participant-observer in the counterculture movement, provides a firsthand account of various communes. He examines the organizational philosophies, economic models, and interpersonal dynamics that defined these alternative living experiments.

Historians and sociologists frequently cite this work as a primary source for understanding the internal mechanics of the 1970s communal movement. Readers note that the prose is descriptive and journalistic, offering a specific snapshot of a period rather than a broad theoretical framework.