Part one: Broken home, beginnings to 1893. Broken country ; Broken home ; Public schooling ; The tattler ; A superior gift ; Career choices ; The white city
Part two: A true singer, 1893 to 1898. Chafing at life ;The bond of a fellow-craft ; Heroine of his stories ; A true singer
England as seen by a black man ; East Coast strivings ; The way is dark ; The wizard of Tuskegee
Part three: The downward way, 1898 to 1906 ;The wedding of plebeians ; Our new madness ; Still a sick man ; A sac of bitter sarcasm ; Old habits die hard ; The downward way ; Waiting in Loafing-Holt.