Albert Chamberlin was hitchhiking home while in college when a man told him about his life's problems and frustrations.
The man's mother died in childbirth and his father and brothers blamed him. He was not considered family. He did hard, dirty tasks, with no thanks, and left home as soon as he finished high school. His difficult life continued for many years.
But the man had finally achieved his long-term objectives, and he had to tell someone about it. The author was there to listen and learn.
After leaving home at age sixteen, the man became a seaman on a tramp steamer, fought and was wounded in France during World War I, and then returned to the United States and became a carpenter. He built a house and then married. His wife was arrested for prostitution. He divorced her and gave her the house, which he considered contaminated. After all that, however, he had arrived at a new place, one in which all his dreams had come true.
It came to the author: His life was the exact opposite of this tale. By combining the two narratives, the story of the anonymous one emerged.
