This is the story of Simon Herbst, a twenty-five year old self-described "slacker" who lives in a Boston-area house with seven other young singles in order to cope with the region's high rents. He enjoys his work as a video store clerk and has a curvaceous young girlfriend who adores him. Yet Simon feels unsettled. He is fascinated by Melanie Dvorak, a bike messenger who lives across the hall from him. Melanie is an earthy, athletic, and politically-minded woman whose sexual orientation is questioned by her housemates. Over the waning years of the 1980s, Simon is challenged by his urges,...