How far would you go to avoid being forced to kill?
90 is the number that, on a cold December night, hijacks a young man’s future.
The year is 1969; Bruce is 20, and 90 is his draft lottery number. The number that guarantees he’ll be drafted into the military—likely becoming a soldier in the Vietnam War.
In this compelling memoir, one young man—an outsider among his privileged peers at Princeton University – questions everything he believes as his life is dramatically reshaped by an overwhelming moral dilemma. His father’s death deprives Bruce of the guidance he needs in this most masculine decision: whether to fight or declare himself a conscientious objector who refuses to kill. Would a real man do whatever his country asks? Or must he follow his conscience, placing integrity above friends, family, and his own future?
“90 is a living thing to me. Who knew a number could have so much power? It’s behind whatever I say or do, every decision I make – getting involved with someone, whether to protest, if I can even go to law school. 90 robs me of my freedom! “
