Both the story and the stories included in this volume are mainly autobiographical. “John Barleycorn” is a poignant confession of a man for whom alcoholism has become a way of life, but who is sure that such a formation of his personality is not a pattern. On the other side of the law are the heroes of stories - people who, in search of adventure, find themselves in the world of adventurers and beggars, gamblers and thieves.