If Klinger Had Only Known ...

Wearing women's clothing never got the fictional M.A.S.H. character, Corporal Max Klinger out of the Army, but faking homosexuality won Jimi Hendrix an early discharge and a headstart on a legendary career, according to a new biography.

Room Full Of Mirrors by Charles R. Cross cites Hendrix's Army medical records as proof that he received an early discharge from the 101st Airborne Division in 1962 because of his "homosexual tendencies." In reality, Hendrix, who cited a broken ankle as the reason for his discharge, had a well known appetite for women.

The book, whose title comes from an unreleased Hendrix song, is being released to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the artist's death from an overdose of sleeping pills.