Chapter 9 Summary and Analysis

Often, Russell awakes in the night to hear his relatives down in the kitchen talking and drinking coffee. The most fantastical story is Papa's trip to England to find the family's lost fortune. The family is supposedly descended from a rich bishop, but the family never collected the fortune, which "reverted to the Crown" and was lost. After Doris expresses disbelief in the fortune, Russell stops believing in it, too. The family talks about everything, including Uncle Edwin, managing editor of the New York Times, who is beyond the scope of his less successful family. Everyone reads his weekly column.

Lucy holds Edwin up as a model for Russell, who doubts his ability. After he struggles with selling papers, his mother takes a chance on banjo lessons for him. Russell fails miserably, and becomes even more determined to be a writer...