Homer Macauley is a 14-year-old boy growing up fatherless in the San Joaquin Valley of California during World War II.

To make money, he takes an evening job as a telegraph boy, meaning sometimes he has to deliver the news to a family that a son has died in the war.

He is encouraged by his home environment and his loving family, including a very young brother and a mother who plays the harp.

[2] The story of The Human Comedy, including the characters Homer and Ulysses in particular, is based on Saroyan's life, living fatherless with his siblings and his mother.

In 1943, Nick Hoffer drew a newspaper comic strip, La Comédie Humaine, based on The Human Comedy.

[5] A musical adaptation for the stage, which The New York Times described as a "pop folk opera",[6] opened at Joseph Papp's Public Theatre on December 28, 1983, and eventually transferred to Broadway, where it closed after 19 previews and 13 performances.

[7][8] In 1992, Richard Klautsch directed an adaptation for the stage by Phil Atlakson at Boise State University that featured Randy Davison.