Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. A Mid-American Beginning -- 2. Clyde, Ohio -- 3. Young Man from the Provinces -- 4. The Dream of Success -- 5. New Man in a New World -- 6. The Dream of Failure -- 7. The New York Attraction -- 8. Achievement -- 9. In the Trap -- 10. Experiments in Prose -- 11. To the Old World, and Back -- 12. Arrival and Departure -- 13. A New Life -- 14. Reno -- 15. "The Most Cultural Town in America" -- 16. Turning Point -- 17. Speaking of the Modern Movement -- 18. Collapse -- 19. The Door of the Trap -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index.