In the Steps of Mister Proust

"In the Steps of Mister Proust" centers around the life of a young man named Josh, attending Columbia University as a freshman and ready to discover what the world has to offer outside of his hometown of Baltimore. Josh is definitely ready to do some discovering, as things back in Baltimore aren't that great. Dad's recently come out of the closet and run off with a man, his brother is still recovering from a horrible accident, his youngest brother is getting ignored. Needless to say, life isn't exactly running smooth back home. Columbia isn't much easier. Josh is continually conflicted over his sexual feelings for both girls and guys, he desperately wants to fit in and discover who he's about but just doesn't know how to go about it. Richard, his best friend from home, is also his roommate at college and is spending most of his time running around to gay bars around New York City. He's also having to cope with being a freshman in an advanced English class. The class may be the best thing to happen to him, however. In reading Proust, Josh starts seeing many parallels between the lives of Proust's characters and his own. When Josh's college life is jeopardized by a legal case against his father and Richard tests positive for HIV, Josh realizes that there is much solace to be gained from Proust's writing...and maybe Some Very Important Life Lessons as well.