The Beautiful People

Characters include a boy of fifteen who writes novels consisting of one word, his sister who pretends to be taken in by the boy's pretense that the mice in the house spell out her name in flowers on her birthday, and the freelance philosopher of a father who lives by cashing in the pension checks of a complete stranger, dead for seven years

These charming, interesting characters represent Saroyan's belief that love is the only thing which matters in the world

"It possesses a beguiling quality of sustained innocence and blessed derangement" ~ N.Y. Post