Thomas Wolfe`s final novel before his death in 1938 follows his autobiographical character, George Webber, from the publication of his first novel in November of 1929 to a mid-1930s visit to Germany, a country he had once loved, in its most corrupt moment. In between there are sharply observed portraits of Wolfe`s literary and social peers in an uncertain time and excursions through the country by train to assuage an insatiable curiosity about his fellow Americans. His message is broad and optimistic, asserting that however dear the past might become, we must go forward: I believe that we are lost here in America, but I believe we shall be found.