'Tis, the story of Frank's American journey from impoverished immigrant to brilliant teacher and raconteur. Frank lands in New York at nineteen, and gets a job at the Biltmore Hotel, where he immediately encounters the vivid hierachies of this "classless country", and then is drafted into the army and is sent to Germany to train dogs and type reports. It is Frank's incomparable voice--his uncanny humor and his astonishing ear for dialogue--that renders these experiences spellbinding.