Jackie Johnson's boy was born to the Big Smoke whether it wanted him or not. Unwittinggly he becomes the thread linking many disparate live, each caught up in its own tangel of pleasure and despair. The story characterizes Sydney early this century, but its essence is of many cities at any time. The life stories of the characters are picked out in brilliant colours and D'Arcy Niland deftly interweaves their destinies with the vitality, irony and empathy that distinguish him as a storyteller, and with an artistry that moves, shocks and compels.