Al hates his father, an abusive alcoholic. Unaware that he has dyslexia, Al fells inferior, daydreams and doesn’t handle conflict. He quits jobs and joins the army where they make him an electronics instructor. His father dies and Al still hates him. Hospitalized several times, he volunteers because he likes the praise. At home he fights with his mother. He goes to technical college, dos well but fails a political science class, then quits without graduating. He joins a group of men who form a company that does well but he works too much. A Christian invites him to church and he goes, falls in love but is rebuffed. Then he is saved, and decides to travel the country, searching for God’s will. The first part ends when he is arrested in St. Louis after an accident.