Chapter Two Summary

Ethan returns home on Good Friday and tells his wife he has much to tell her, but before he can begin, Mary has her own news. Their teenage children, Allen and Ellen, have decided to enter the National I Love America essay contest sponsored by Hearst Papers, and may win a chance to be on television, meet the President, and become celebrities. Allen and Ellen are very excited about the possibility of winning money and ask Ethan if they can use some of the old books that are in the attic to do their research.

Mary's other news is that Margie has read her fortune and Ethan is going to be rich and important, beginning in July. Mary goes on to say that now she can hold up her head, Ethan will stop wallowing in his failure, and everybody in town...