Of Time and the River

Of Time and the River (subtitled A Legend of Man's Hunger in his Youth) is a 1935 novel by American author Thomas Wolfe.

It is a fictionalized autobiography, using the name Eugene Gant for Wolfe's, detailing the protagonist's early and mid-20s, during which time the character attends Harvard University, moves to New York City, where he teaches English at a university, and travels overseas with the character Francis Starwick.

Unlike Wolfe's major novels, The Good Child's River doesn't include either Eugene Gant or George Webber, Wolfe's fictional counterparts, but instead focuses on Webber's lover, Esther Jack (based on Aline Bernstein).

Bernstein made many notes about her life for Wolfe, who fashioned the material into The Good Child's River.

[1] A Howard Rodman adaptation of this story was presented in the Hallmark Hall of Fame on 4 October 1953, starring Thomas Mitchell as William Oliver Gant.