You Can’t Win · Chapter
Acknowledgments explained
The author dedicates the book to Fremont Older, Judge Frank H.
What happens
The author dedicates the book to Fremont Older, Judge Frank H. Dunne, an unnamed friend who helped him escape from San Francisco jail, and a beggar named 'Sticks' Sullivan who removed buckshot from his back under a bridge in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
The emotional peak occurs when the narrator’s carefully constructed facade of helpless invalidism is shattered…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingCharacters to notice
- Fremont Older
Dedicatee of the book
- Judge Frank H. Dunne
Dedicatee of the book
Key passages
“This book is dedicated to Fremont Older, to Judge Frank H. Dunne, to the unnamed friend who sawed me out of the San Francisco jail and to that dirty, drunken, disreputable, crippled beggar, 'Sticks' Sullivan, who picked the buckshot out of my back—under the bridge—at Baraboo, Wisconsin.”
The author dedicates the book to Fremont Older, Judge Frank H. Dunne, an anonymous friend who freed him from San Francisco jail, and a beggar named 'Sticks' Sullivan who removed buckshot from his back beneath a bridge in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
Chapter consists solely of the dedication.
