"That's Manhattan hand model Clu Latimore's first thought upon his return to an all-too-familiar rural hometown with Chris, his laid-back lover, in tow. Mere moments after his arrival, Clu is up to his stylish cut in problems that include caring for a dying mother and her pack of prize-winning Chihuahuas, and of course, initiating the incredulous Chris into the reality of life in the land of blue bonnets, barbecue, and Baptists." "Naturally, Clu can't turn to his siblings for help. His eternally-broke redneck older brother Jaston is obsessed with renting heavy machinery in hopes of unearthing treasure behind the abandoned house next door. And his perpetually pregnant -- yet still childless -- sister Laine has troubles of her own, thanks to Sherrod, her jailbird accountant husband. It's solely up to Clu to lend support to their mother, Bettie Jean, who is on the verge not only of death, but marriage to Brother Ramirez, a Mexican-American evangelist." "Just when Clu's all but ruled out suicide, along comes his former piano teacher and Grit's answer to Brooke Astor, Miss Oveta Canfield. It seems Miss Oveta intends to transform the Espinosa County Livestock Barn into a dinner theater with a little help from Mr. Jeffrey, her dwarflike, sixty-something hairdresser-slashadopted son. Before you can say "Agamemnon," Clu has been recruited to direct a country-western musical version of the Greek tragedy -- starring none other than Mr. Jeffrey's shockingly virile offspring, Preston, a beefy blonde studlet whose mission in life, until now, has been tending the gardens around the pillared pink Canfield mansion." "Before Clu's journey is over, there will be a wedding, a birth, a funeral and, of course, a no-holds-barred production of "Agamemnon -- The Musical" that proves nobody is immune to Preston's seductive charms: not the audience, not Chris, not even Clu himself. Convinced he's seen everything, Clu can't help wondering how long a couple of gay New Yorkers can possibly survive in a dry county crawling with Bible thumpers, fire ants, and temptation in the last place they ever expected to find it... Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.

Can two Chelsea boys survive life in rural Texas?--Cover.

An excerpt of this novel appeared in Southern Lights (Pen South Anthology, Vol.2 ) in 1998.

1. There Are No Songs about March in New York 2. A Shirley Jones Wig 3. Seeds of Consternation 4. A Need for Delight 5. And the Answer Came 6. Davy Crockett's False Teeth 7. The Lack of Distortion 8. Drowned Hummingbird

9. Eating the Rocking Chair 10. Penny in a Shark Tank 11. Air Conditioning, Beer, Something to Eat 12. The Scamp Bulls 13. The Gordon MacRae Endowment 14. The Human Response 15. God's Lark.