In the depths of the Great Depression, Wright Morris, age twenty-three, sets out to explore the Old World. His youthful notions are tested in France, Austria, and Italy as he begins to absorb the raw material that will later be reshaped in his novels, essays, and memoirs. In recounting his curious adventures - running afoul of the fascist militia in Italy, cycling through the Alps, spending an other-worldly winter in a ramshackle castle - Wright Morris once again demonstrates the exacting eye for detail and the gift of gently ironic observation that inform Will's Boy (the first part of his autobiography) and his other writings. Mr. Morris' reflections on his remarkable odyssey offer an intimate glimpse of a young mind discovering its creative potential.