True: The Sacred and Profane Dialogues of Tom Spotted Tail Augustine Stearns

True is a star-crossed romance set in Europe in 1985, whose theme is self-discovery. In the course of the story, the main character Tom Spotted Tail Augustine Stearns, a hip Stanford preppy studying in France, grapples with, and struggles mightily to resolve, through his post-modern education and traditional Roman Catholic faith, the pressing issues of his day, i.e., race, class, religion, nationality, sexuality, and AIDS, especially as they relate to his formation and identity. During his studies abroad and grand tour, Tom journeys inward and, in the process, comes face to face with his working-class roots, biracial past, bisexual heart, Christian faith, saving God, and what it means to be true.