response 36 of 104:

Jul 6 03:08 UTC 2001

Indeed, the author is both contemporary and American.

Here's a quote from another work:

Todd had grown up in Northern California in a big ranch house called 
Love Farm, with five brothers and sisters.  His parents had an 
antiquarian book shop called The Book of Love and grew all their own 
organic vegetables.  They encouraged their children to put on plays for 
them after dinner -- TV did not exist at Love Farm.  Todd was the 
oldest, and everyone knew he would become a big star, possibly on the TV 
none of them watched, although his parents often cautioned him about the 
dangers of Hollywood; they had met there on a chewing-gum commercial, 
fallen instantly in love over a single piece of gum (shared), and 
decided to get out while they were still relatively unscarred by the 
business.
    Todd's expansive, loving, freewheeling nature was encouraged.  He 
smoked pot and discussed the Beat poets with his parents; he ran through 
the woods with his brothers and sisters, leading them at games of 
Indians and Indians (no one would be the Cowboys); he wrote the plays 
they performed at night, soliciting the services of girls in the 
neighborhood to inhabit the role of leading lady.  The plays were always 
romantic and ended with a passionate kiss, much to the dismay of Todd's 
younger siblings, who found it all particularly stomach-turning.  But 
Todd's audience and his co-stars enjoyed the romance.  And of course, so 
did Todd, who felt privately that his calling in life was to kiss as 
many girls as possible and let even more watch him doing it so they 
could live vicariously through the ones on screen.