Here are fi ve tales, mutants of the author's life. Two of them, "The Three Brothers" and "The Search" deal with the adjustment and fi ght against racial prejudice and with a battle for a homeland. Each of the three brothers confronts racial prejudice according to his character. In "The Search", an architect tries to escape racial prejudice by a fl ight into monastic life, to the evensong of monks, and to the denial of reality. The story "King Lear and Ben Leary" tells of the trial and tribulations of old age with its demeaning features and its loneliness. An old man bravely fi ghts family, lawyers, and physicians to maintain his identity. "A Change in Values" describes the vision of an old artist as he lies sick in a hospital bed. His vision is of three representatives of Western culture who discuss and bemoan the present state of public attitude of the arts. The last tale "The Life and Death of Johannes Starker" tells of a contemporary composer of music and his fight against academic intrigue. He receives little respect during his life, but years after his death he is being recognized as a great artist and a minstrel of the human soul.