When I Argue with Myself How Is It I Never Win? A Coming-Of-ages Story

Earl McByrne is at odds with the world - and also with himself -- never sure which of them is crazier. On his own at 16, a high school drop-out with little assurance of who he is or will become, Earl joins the Navy, trusting that it will make a man of him. But he fares no better in the hands of the minions of Uncle Sam than he had in the charge of his abusive mother and step-father. His unexpected early discharge sets him adrift, looking for his footing and for what he never had - a sense of home, love, and his own worth. Seeking safe harbor and purpose in work, friendship, and a series of marriages, Earl often seems to be his own best enemy, snagging himself, and blown by the wind with little potency to guide his own steps or their outcomes. Yet at some of his darkest and direst moments - stranded and homeless on a New York City street corner, or alone and immobilized by cold-turkey alcohol withdrawal - he feels the guidance of an unseen hand and can believe that miracles and redemption are possible. Through each of eleven separate tales spanning sixty-something years, Earl is the narrator, though not quite the same person, at different stages of his life. At each stage, the frustrations of his head-meets-wall, butpersistent, attempts at coming of age are leavened by his droll sense of humor.