White mule / by William Carlos Williams

White Mule and its sequels, In the Money and The Build-Up, form a trilogy, the saga of the Stecher family, but each volume is a complete novel by itself.

Chapters of White Mule were first published in the magazines Pagany and The Magazine. Acknowledgment is made to the editors of these publications for permission to reprint.

I To be -- II A flower from the park -- III To go on being -- IV To start again once more -- V The boundaries of thoughts -- VI Summer days -- VII Conflict -- VIII Men -- IX Strike! -- X The giveaway -- XI Ständchen -- XII A visit -- XIII The flirtation -- XIV Gurlie and the Jewess -- XV One year old -- XVI Flight -- XVII The country -- XVIII The Payson place -- XIX Country rain -- XX The soundout -- XXI Fourth of July doubleheader -- XXII The Ferry children

"White Mule is the story of Joe’s inner struggle between love of fine craftsmanship (he is a printer by trade) and Gurlie’s ambition to get ahead, to have him get “in the money.” But it also the story of the awakening consciousness of their children; the real heroine is the baby Flossie––she had a kick like “White Mule” whiskey––whose birth begins the book. Everything revolves around the baby and she is surely unique in literature. Dr. Williams was a pediatrician, and without sentimentality he makes of this little being, who cannot even talk, a full-scale, three-dimensional personality." publishing website

This text contains dated racial language.