Der Kleine Lump

At its infancy, this book was called The Black Hole of Misery. The author intended to show the ill effects of poverty as he experienced. The title change is consequential to the unexpected results from those efforts.

The author wrote about a boy born into a near-destitute family in a unique period defined by the Great Depression. The boy's family was atypical in heritage, faith, lifestyle, character, and appearance. The boy's mother wore a prayer covering and plain dress that belied her fiery temperament. She referred to her son as Der Kleine Lump (the little rascal, sometimes the scoundrel). The boy's family lived on less than an acre of land that contained a primitive house, an outhouse, and five dinky buildings that sheltered a menagerie of animals.

When the author viewed the anecdotes as a composite picture, he saw a boy who enjoyed extravagant adventures and lifestyle in poverty beyond reason--like finding and enjoying a pot of gold in a barren land. The author would like to have been that boy--and so he was. As such, the mystique of this book is factual to the limits of the author's memory.

The author, John Paugstat, has degrees from the Universities of California and Cincinnati. For most of his corporate life, the author wrote a family of articles on a variety of subjects. He taught and spoke at conventions and at corporate and church-related functions. In addition to this book, he has one published book with four in various stages of development.