Explores the complexities of family relationships through three generations of O'Malley men. Patriarch John O'Malley leaves home at sixteen and becomes a sandhog --the dangerous occupation of blasting into bedrock to lay bridge and skyscraper foundations. His son Mike still feels resentment toward John for the constant relocations of his youth. And Mike's son Tim deals with the loss of a child. A simple tape recorder provides the catalyst to healing. Throughout, Ray Paul reveals what it was like to live and work in America in the early 1900s. --From page 4 of cover.