Chapter One Summary

Al Manheim is a writer for the New York Record and he meets a teenager named Sammy Glick, employed as his copy boy. Manheim is intrigued by Sammy's drive and tries to guide the sixteen year-old. Sammy is not interested in Manheim's mentoring and starts using his own underhand methods of getting ahead. At first Sammy's tactics are subtle; Sammy makes a correction to one of Manheim's articles one night when Manheim is too drunk to realize his error. Manheim is surprised that Sammy is devious enough to use him to get ahead. The idea angers Manheim but also makes him want to find the good in Sammy. Manheim learns the hard way that Sammy has no intention of changing. Sammy's next move is to get the managing editor to cut Manheim's column in order to add a radio column written...