Summary

In the present, Cal goes on his date with Julie Kikuchi, a photographer. He takes her to dinner at a traditional Austrian restaurant, and it goes well. Cal’s mind spins forward with possibilities and what he should tell her, even though he isn’t sure Julie sees him as a potential mate. Cal reverses the story to 1944 to the courtship of his parents at age twenty. By 1944, Prohibition has been repealed and Lefty uses the money from his auto-erotica photos to open a proper bar and grill, also called the Zebra Room. Milton goes from a feeling of indifference toward his cousin Tessie, who is prim and measured, to a growing sense of attraction spurred by her red toenails. Milton, a Boy Scout leader and college student, has pouchy eyes and poor skin, but enough self-confidence to woo his...