'Torch Song', 'Witch's Money', and 'An Outpost of Progress' Summary

'Torch Song' begins with a note that Joan Harris, Jack Lorey's friend, reminds him of a widow. Joan and Jack are from the same town in Ohio and meet in New York. They are close, at first, but over time their friendship drifts apart. Over several years, during random sightings and cocktail parties at Joan's, Jack sees Joan in a bar with a man who has clearly passed out, with a Swedish count.who is an abusive drug addict. with Hugh, a violent drunk, and with Franz, a large German man who is abusive, and Pete, who steals her money, and Stephen, who is ill. After being drafted, two failed marriages, and his discharge, Jack soon finds himself out of work in a run down apartment, out...