Opening and A Fistful of Fig Newtons or the Shoot-Out in Room 303 Summary

A Fistful of Fig Newtons follows Ralph Parker on a long trip through the Lincoln Tunnel from New York to New Jersey. As Ralph sits in the tunnel, stuck in traffic, he reminisces over scenes of his life and speculates about the future and the state of culture. The reader travels with Ralph through memories of his childhood, the army, and life in college on the GI Bill.

In the opening, the presently unnamed narrator is stuck in rush-hour traffic four blocks from the Lincoln Tunnel from New York to New Jersey. His radio goes out, leaving him with nothing to occupy his mind. Finding a break in traffic, he makes it into the tunnel. The narrator ruminates that the tunnel...