After graduating high school in 1973, best friends Mark, Benji and Kenny take a cross-country road trip by bus in search of adventure before heading off to college. They discover a world far different and more complex than their suburban upbringing has prepared them for, and that traveling together doesn't mean they are on the same journey. The narrator, Mark, tall, lanky, inexperienced and younger looking than his 19 years, is a keen and articulate observer of life who longs to be more of a participant. His sense of history, current events, music and baseball combine to make The Dream Rule an inspirational work of lasting importance.