After the death of his father, Joshua Klein drops out of college and moves to Chicago. Alone in the city and with nothing of consequence to do, he attempts to justify to himself the ways of God, the sense of an early death and what is the good to do in life. In this excerpt of Time Spent Away, Joshua seeks out the hidden aspects of the city and his spirit. Guided by his father's Bible and the formative texts of his undergraduate coursework, he sets out to complete his own education. During a tour of The Auditorium Building Joshua meets Felix Servo, a preserver of historic landmarks and an architectural enthusiast, who will show Joshua the city heights in a new way. When he explores the depths, Joshua meets Roland Charles, a self-proclaimed actor whose true use of time eludes Joshua and will jeopardize his peaceful search for meaning. Told from the perspective of a timid though curious young man, Time Spent Away engages with architecture, literature and love; Louis Sullivan, the Western Cannon and the person of Jesus Christ; preservation, destruction and the fine line between both to present a heart-felt account of self-discovery.