Spittin' Image

Set before Strange Snow in the same college dorm room as Sorrows and Sons, this play focuses on a college student who is not doing well in school and simply cannot live up to his parents' expectations that he replace the brother killed in Vietnam. One of the author's most fascinating characters, Megs, who plays an important role in Strange Snow, makes his first appearance here. Megs has not yet cauterized his pain at having lost his best buddy in Nam. He stops to see his lost friend's the kid brother and sees in him the "spittin' image" of his dead comrade. The brother is cramming for an exam, but Megs cajoles him to loosen up and both begin the painful process of dealing with their loss.