Waiting for Nothing

Waiting for Nothing first published in 1935 is a sobering first-hand account of the authors life as a homeless man during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The book a classic portrayal of the brutality and inhumaness of the time was written while author Tom Kromer (1906-1969) was working at a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in California and was his only completed novel. Waiting for Nothing describes Kromers travels on the rails his encounters with small-time cooks prostitutes and homosexuals and the endless search for enough food to eat and a warm place to sleep. Throughout the book Kromer describes the plight of a vast army of unemployed workers left to fend for themselves in a largely uncaring society.