Story Two, County Fair! Summary

The Shepherd family's excursion to the County Fair is one fraught with great anticipation. The narrator and his friends, Schwartz, Flick, and Junior Kissel debate the veritable pros and cons of the various rides. They are of an age when they believe that their fathers, all called the Old Man, are experts on the rides and the results of the event; poor Junior Kissel having ridden the whip about fifty times the previous year stands half a head shorter than all the other boys. Schwartz's Old Man is obvious correct in his assessment.

Over a meatloaf and mashed potatoes dinner the night before the Fair, the Old Man tells the narrator's mother that he does not care if she wishes to look at the quilts and raspberry preserves as long as he and the narrator get to...