Books by James T. Farrell

Chronicles the decline of Danny O'Neill's grandfather Tom and aunt Louise. Featuring the family's experience with emigration from Ireland, this book evokes feelings of bewilderment, shame, and fear as the O'Neills embark on a new life in Chicago in the late nineteenth century.

Full of bewilderment and anxiety, Danny experiences high school, the death of his father, and his first full-time job at the Express Company that employed his father. Fraught with failed attempts to communicate with his father and peers, Danny is burdened by his family's constant economic and emotional demands.

Recording his reactions to initiation into college life at the University of Chicago and the imminent death of his grandmother, one of his primary caretakers, Danny realizes the value of time and gains confidence in his writing abilities. This is a saga of Danny O'Neill's struggles with harsh urban realities in early twentieth-century Chicago.