part 1. A night at the fair -- Forging ahead -- Basil and Cleopatra -- Princeton -- part 2. Who's who-- and why -- How to live on $36,000 a year -- How to live on practically nothing a year -- How to waste material : a note on my generation -- part 3. Ten years in the advertising business -- One hundred false starts -- Outside the cabinet-maker's -- One trip abroad -- part 4. "I didn't get over" -- Afternoon of an author -- Author's house -- Design in plaster -- Pat Hobby. Boil some water-- lots of it -- Teamed with genius -- No harm trying -- News of Paris, fifteen years ago.