This novel, set mainly in St. Louis Missouri (tho' occasionally in outer space), tries to capture the romantic lives of young people today. Boys date boys, girls girls, along with the (somewhat more prevalent) girls and boys. The book explores the often fluid nature of one's sexual identity and preferences and how they can affect one's romantic commitments. Some key scenes play out in several of the St. Louis region's historic events and institutions—Lewis and Clark's exploration, the 1904 World's Fair, Cardinal baseball. Another site is Washington University. That educational setting offers the chance to trace the fascinating ways in which ideas are planted, take hold, and then spread far and wide. Above all, Modified Raptures dramatizes in detail the ways time's irresistible demands can shape (or doom) human relationships, careers and lives.