Music, Maestro (click tree) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Dear Reader, Although The Milk of Paradise deals with "adult" themes and contains some strong language, as well as a few relatively mild sexual situations, it is in no way pornographic. However, if the subject matter described below disturbs you, this novel is probably not for you. The Milk of Paradise is a modern comedy of manners, set in Santa Barbara, California, in 1994. It follows the relationships of four principal characters: Harry Shilman, a forty-five year old, somewhat neurotic and sexually addicted computer programmer; Arnel Delaney, a beautiful, twenty-nine year old photographer and aspiring singer; Naomi Kramer, a forty-two year old criminal attorney, and Rush (short for Russia) Wallace, the forty-six year old daughter of two documentary film makers who were blacklisted during the 1950's. Naomi and Rush, who are a lesbian couple, want a child and decide that Harry (a close friend and Naomi's former lover) should be its biological father. When Harry flatly refuses, Naomi enlists the help of Arnel, whom she is defending in a drug-dealing case. The plan is for Arnel to seduce Harry, obtain a viable sperm sample, and deliver it to Naomi so that she can use it to impregnate herself. The action in this chapter occurs about a third of the way through the story. It follows Harry, Naomi and Arnel (along with her eleven-year-old son, Price) as they shop at Santa Barbara's outdoor Farmer's Market on a Saturday morning. To make reading a bit easier, the chapter is broken up into five small sections, with an image map at the end of each to help with navigation. For whatever else The Milk of Paradise might be, it's theme is essentially "love conquers all." I know it doesn't always turn out that way in the real world, but I can't resist the urge to do a bit better by these characters than real life probably would. Maybe I'm just a sentimentalist at heart. In any case, I've always had a weakness for eccentric characters, both in fiction and in my life. The illustrations for Shopping Day are by Bill "Dr. Draw" Smith, a wonderful cartoonist, who appeared as if by magic when I'd just about given up hope of finding someone who could get it right. To see more of Bill's work and find links to lots of other cartooning web sites, check out Dr. Draw's Home Page. By the way, each scene in Shopping Day also has some specially selected music you can listen to. You can check Musical Notes for more details, or just click the Music, Maestro icon near the top left corner of each page to hear the midi file. Best Wishes, Michael Friedman

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