In this overlooked masterwork, William Owens eloquently recounts his struggle to overcome the harshest of adversaries -- poverty and hunger -- to earn an education in the small town of Pin Hook, Texas. He recalls in vivid detail how his mother found to feed and hold together her family, and how he fought for knowledge in a land that was, for the most part, illiterate. This is not only the magnificent chronicle of one man`s insatiable desire for an education, but also a rich chapter in the history of Texas. The book, which is classic Americana, was the subject of a Bill Moyers PBS special.