The Dance and the Diamond Sky: A Novel of America's Late-1960s Antiwar Underground
A Novel Set in the Late-1960s Antiwar Underground
A novel set in America in the late-1960s — a time of political division, corruption, war, and social upheaval — an America that came to the same crossroads we face today.
ISBN: 979-8-950930-25-6
Genre: Voice-driven literary fiction
Sub-Genre: Political coming-of-consciousness (1969)
Novel. Author: Gary Marks
(Privately printed in 1988; revised edition published in 2025.)
In a fractured 1960s America, a young pacifist songwriter and his closest friends struggle to hold onto loyalty, love, and their hope for peace as war and political corruption tear their country apart.
Read The Dance and the Diamond Sky:
Those who march blindly to the drumbeat of law and order
will soon march to their own front door,
and the doors of their children.
The Story
A novel about the 1969 antiwar underground — and a warning written almost four decades ahead of its time.
Literary Fiction / Historical Drama Gary Marks
The Dance and the Diamond Sky is Gary Marks's signature novel.
Set during the social upheaval of the late 1960s, The Dance and the Diamond Sky follows Jackie Rose, a college dropout, aspiring songwriter, and committed pacifist trying to survive in a country tearing itself apart.
Three people pull at him. Sherry loves him plainly and without condition — she is the ground he keeps forgetting to stand on. Jan, with an expansive vision of love that challenges convention, dares Jackie to believe that jealousy and possession are just habits to unlearn. And Lee, a brilliant Columbia history graduate who believes nonviolence has never worked, and never will.
When Lee is arrested breaking up a police provocation at an antiwar march, he finds a way to slip custody and disappears — resurfacing only in headlines, while torching empty draft board offices up and down the coast, one federal building at a time, after the staff has gone home. He becomes one of the most wanted men in the country. Eventually, he becomes Jackie's problem.
Jackie's own life is falling apart. He loves Sherry but can't stop wanting Jan. Jan falls for Wes, Jackie's friend, and the loss is unbearable. Jackie writes it all into his lyrics — the songs get better as the emotional pain gets worse.
Then Lee comes back into Jackie’s life. He shows up in Boston to say goodbye to Jackie forever, certain the FBI will find him at any moment. Jackie admits he could never do what Lee has done — he could never cross the line from resistance into violence, no matter how much he hates the war, and what America is turning into. He tells Lee he feels like a coward.
Lee tells him he's got it wrong, because Jackie would never have worn a Nazi armband either, and that refusal isn't weakness — it's another form of courage. Fighting for freedom can’t turn into a demand for blind obedience, or it turns into the very thing it’s attempting to defeat.
As Lee is about to leave, they realize the FBI has tracked him down. They’re waiting outside. Jackie is forced to confront a question that can no longer remain theoretical: What does it mean to act according to one's convictions when whatever choice he makes will affect him for the rest of his life? One could end up taking his life…. The story continues as 1969 America takes center stage, with 2026 America looking on.
Behind the Story:
The novel draws on Gary Marks’s own experience co-founding The Alternative, a nonprofit natural foods co-op in Oakland, in 1969. Many other scenes and names in the book are drawn from real life, which is why he opens the book with this epigraph:
The names of the characters in this story
have not been changed to protect the innocent.
They protected their own innocence.
What Reviewers Say
Robb Literary, Los Angeles: “Review of the novel The Dance and the Diamond Sky by Gary Marks”
“An amazing book, beautifully written, about a critical time in our country’s history. Though this coming of age tale is about a time decades removed, The Dance and the Diamond Sky generates wisdom that directly reflects upon the internal and external struggles we face today. There are no cliches here. There is humor, plenty of drama, and a great ending. A story that needed to be written finally was. . . .”
Alexis Sattler, former Putnam editor, on The Dance and the Diamond Sky
“ .... From the first page I felt like I’d traveled back in time. There’s a lyricism to both the language and the plot that’s mesmerizing..... Gary Marks is a clear talent.”
Mundane Magazine on The Dance and the Diamond Sky
“Marks sees parallels between the social divisions of 1969 and those of 2026, particularly in the ways political leaders can exploit fear, resentment, and cultural differences.”
“But the novel’s most interesting question may be a more intimate one. What does an individual owe to the world when the world appears to be falling apart?”
“It’s a question that becomes especially urgent when the cost of taking a position is no longer theoretical.”
Reprezent Magazine: “Gary Marks Captures the Spirit of Two Americas in The Dance and the Diamond Sky,” January 2026
In The Dance and the Diamond Sky, author Gary Marks delivers a hauntingly contemporary novel set against the backdrop of 1969 America. This coming-of-age story traces the journey of Jackie Rose and his close-knit circle as they fight to find meaning in a country disconnected from itself.
Drawing a stark parallel between the cultural tensions of the late sixties and those facing America in 2026, Marks challenges readers to confront the cost of neutrality in troubled times.
The novel’s emotional power lies in its portrayal of confusion and longing. Caught between the seductive pull of acceptance and the need to stand alone, Jackie and his friends are forced to make decisions that will reverberate throughout their lives.
Marks’s prose is both poetic and precise, combining psychological insight with an unsparing look at moral consequence.
Reviewers have not been shy in their praise. Alexis Sattler of Random House hails the novel for its “lyricism” and ability to conjure the period, while Sherry Robb calls it “an amazing book, beautifully written, about a critical time in our country’s history.”
The story’s humor, drama, and avoidance of clichés have made it a standout in the current literary landscape. By the novel’s conclusion, readers are left with questions that transcend both time and place.
With The Dance and the Diamond Sky, Gary Marks not only revisits the pivotal moments that shaped a generation, but compels us to reflect on our own roles in a divided society—an achievement that will be discussed long after the wild ending leaves you breathless.
“I am hard-pressed to find something bad about this book, about this work. I never once felt pressured to be a peace-nik or to experience the glories of natural foods…. That isn’t this book’s purpose, and therein lies one of its strong points. It is an affectionate remembrance of a man on the cusp of life, of the people around him…. I liked these people. I cared about them. I believed in them…. I believe this book paints a picture that many who came of age wouldn’t mind handing to their kids.”
— Robert Drake, Andrews & Robb, reviewing the first draft of The Dance and the Diamond Sky, October 1, 1986
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Note: This page refers to Gary Marks, American singer-songwriter, musician, and author. Not to be confused with Gary Marks, the UNC political science professor, the professional golfer, or other individuals sharing this name.