The book opens up with a short story of twelve-year-old Grover who is patiently waiting at the courthouse squire of Altamont for newspapers he intends to sell. After the newspapers alive, he buys a few and starts walking back home.
On his way, he makes a stop at the candy shop where he buys fudge with stamps he earned by running errands for a local pharmacy. He mistakenly gives the cashier eighteen cents worth of stamps instead of fifteen but the cashier refuses to give them claiming they were stolen and not earned. The poor boy runs home crying and explains the incident to his father. His father rushes over to the candy shop and gets his son’s money back. Grover feels content and his world regains balance again.
The second section of the book follows the main protagonist, Eugene. Grover was Eugene’s older brother but the two did not get acquainted very well-Grover died while he was three years old. Eugene’s mother, Eliza Grant, still speaks highly of Grover, she admits that Grover was the most intelligent and hardworking of all her children. Her praises for him never seem to end but at the same time she expresses her disappointment in her soon whom according to her has it easy. Eugene is a writer. His mother’s remarks hurt him deeply.
Of Time and the River: A Legend of Man’s Hunger in His Youth
In this book, Eugene has finished college which prompts him to leave his home state and head northward. Eugene is convinced that great adventures and success awaits him in the north.
He makes his way to the train station and without a shadow of doubt leaves his home. As the train embarks from the station, he feels a sense of freedom. Eugene has lived most of his life trying to match up to his dead brother Grover. His mother has been a constant reminder of his failure to live up to their expectations.
This is the chance he has been waiting for all his life, an escape from the dark and gloomy South. On his way, he makes a stop in Baltimore. There he visits his father, who is on a deathbed at the Baltimore hospital. His kisses his father goodbye and continues on his journey, a new world awaits. A few days later, Eugene’s father dies surrounded by loved ones.
The Child by Tiger
This is a story of a young African American, Dick Prosser. Dick is a respectful and hardworking man, which gains him favor among the white families. He does his work perfectly and without complaint. Slavery has been declared illegal but white people still blacks as animals. However, Dick tries to avoid such individuals and goes about his work.
Having been a victim of racism most of his life, Dick hates the white but chooses to bury his emotions until one day he could not. Dick snaps and goes on a killing spree, murdering a lot of people, including African Americans and white policemen. This angers white people who track him down and shoot over two hundred bullets into his body then hang his body at the mortuary.
