About Blood Supply

Will Zefberg, a newly appointed assistant professor of physics, arrives on the campus of a New England university at the end of the 1960’s, amidst the sexual revolution sparked by the release of the birth control pill. Will’s emergence from the monk-like dedication of his graduate student days collides head-on with the old myth of God giving man both a penis and a brain, but only enough blood to operate one of them at a time. Will’s relationships sputter and struggle as his chief antagonist, Johnson (his penis), drives his decision making in sometimes funny, sometimes disastrous directions. Johnson is an inseparable, wise-cracking co-conspirator, simultaneously a truth-teller and liar, the Sancho Panza of genitalia who can’t keep quiet.

Will’s story is told by the five women he beds, each in their own voice. First, Will flagrantly cavorts with a young coed, Brooke, despite their age difference and taboos about faculty/student contact. Next, he discreetly romances an older woman, Belva, who is craving companionship after the death of her husband. When his relationship with Belva ends, Will goes in search of a more age-appropriate companion. He competes in swimming, skiing, fishing, hiking and sex with post-doc research chemist Irene, a good intellectual and physical match for his interests and drives. But Irene has her own goals, so Will finds himself sharing parenting, teaching, and sexual adventures with a single mom, Emily, an instructor in the English Department having trouble finishing her thesis. Will’s philandering is even bigger trouble, and when Emily dumps him, he rebounds into the arms, stress, and career struggles of a young dancer, Diane, trying to establish herself in the NYC modern dance scene.

The stakes are high. Will dreams of an emotionally, intellectually and sexually fulfilling relationship. His Johnson has other priorities. If Johnson prevails and the myth becomes reality, Will faces a barren future.