THE JOY WHEEL

Eddie Kiley is a teenager growing up in Chicago with his Irish-bred family-his church-going mother and older sister. His father is a salesman, gone most of the time, and Eddie idolizes him. His mother's younger brother Frank used to be a successful accountant, but now he's an alcoholic, always taking the pledge but never keeping it. Her older brother Pat is a cop, flexible about the law, but helpful in getting Eddie his first real job.

Now Eddie is running print sheets for the local bookies-and learning about life the hard way. He watches his Uncle Frank kill himself with drink ... and learns about women both sour and sweet. Eddie wants to quit school and live this new life to its fullest. But he also wants to make his father proud. Soon enough he discovers that the path he has chosen has some serious consequences.