Who Will Cliff Date?

Funny, thought-provoking, historical novelette (shortnovel) about one Clifford Ryan, his older brother(Howard), and Cliff s college roommate (Ralph). At 14in 1967, Cliff has difficulty deciding if he (Cliff) is gay,straight, or bisexual. Howard s problem with womenis that Howard and thousands of other American menare drafted (forced) to fight in Vietnam in 1968 butAmerican women are not. In college in 1970, Cliffand Ralph see The Boys in the Band, a movie aboutgay life that sways Cliff one way, Ralph the otherway. In adulthood Cliff consults a psychiatrist andlearns about another sexual orientation: sthenolagnia(pronounced stheno-lon -ya), a Greek word meaningsexual excitement looking at or touching muscularbody parts. Some people say sexual orientation isn ta choice but Cliff and Ralph each must make achoice: date a male, or date a female. Their choiceis influenced not only by The Boys in the Band butby people and events they see and hear from age8 in 1961 to age 72 in 2025: JFK, RFK, LBJ, MLKJr., Richard Nixon, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, theVietnam War, The Graduate, The Godfather, Herman sHermits, women s liberation, and gay liberation, allof whom or which are mentioned in this novelette. At times hilarious and heartwarming, at other timespoignant and probing.