nine o'clock in the
     morning
Its theme is the development of an American multi-millionaire , from his beginning as a small business man with a reputation for close dealing , his success , his reaching out to greater schemes , growing more and more unscrupulous in his methods , until at last he achieves the great wealth he had sought , but in winning it he loses his soul . This book was written during a vacation in the Colorado mountains . His family were established in a log cabin , and he set up a tent near by for a workshop . This is his account of his method of writing : My working day was supposed to begin at nine o'clock in the morning , but the truth is I seldom reached the tent before ten . Then it took me some time to get down to work . From then on until late in the afternoon I would sit at my typewriter , chew my tongue , and pound away . Each night I read to my wife what I had written that day , and Mrs. White would criticise it .