Ribelle Soderini, Reb to his family and friends, works for his father's construction company in North Boston. The Soderinis are famous for the quality of their work. They build fine houses.

Reb toils hard all day and enjoys hearty food, a good drink and, if he can find it, the company of an obliging woman at night. But then he receives his call-up papers; his country is fighting in Korea and he is expected to do his duty.

Emilio, his father, is an ageing anarchist and urges his son to skip the country to avoid waging someone else's war. Angelina, his mother, quietly watches on, her silent pleas those of thousands of mothers across the country. Reb himself has no appetite for fighting, and even less for leaving his simple yet tranquil life in Massachusetts, but neither is he a shirker. He finds himself determined to find a way to do his duty while staying true to his father's anarchist spirit.

But first, Reb plans one more night on the town.

What About Reb is a tale of families and divided loyalties and of a young man enjoying his last days of freedom.