from the day of his birth, december 17, 1903, in coweta county, georgia, until he reached the age of twenty, erskine caidwell rarely lived longer than a year in one place. the son of a presbyterian minister, he left home at fourteen to wander through the deep south, mexico, and central america. at seventeen, he enrolled at erskine college, due west, south carolina, for a short time. he next entered the university of virginia on a scholarship, and there began writing short stories. later he attended the university of pennsylvania, then spent eight years in maine, where he wrote tobacco road and god's little acre. the saturday review called the latter, "one of the finest studies of southern poor whites that has ever come into our literature." he worked as a seaman, cotton picker, cabdriver, bodyguard, cub reporter, cook, and waiter.