First published in 1967, this is an autobiography that is a memoir of boyhood and adolescence. Beginning with a lesson in brutality at a progressive boarding school, the book moves to a self-help settlement in Florida, a Connecticut mental hospital (where Conroy's mother and stepfather are wardens), and to New York City (where he survives by his wits in schools, at jobs, and even more dangerously at home). Then, after his mother leaves for Europe and his stepfather installs an insane mistress in the family's apartment, Conroy runs away, embarking on new adventures.