Doing the Charleston: a Geechee Memoir is not a novel. It reads more like a young boy's diary: Tinky hates his nickname, and is called instead "Big Boy" by his grandfather. As a result, Big Boy spends as much time as possible with his Grandfather learning the real secrets of life.

In his hyperactive dyslexia, Big Boy disconcerts parents, teachers and other sundry authority figures. He bedevils his neighbors and relatives, plays 'doctor' with the girls, and--on one occasion--has to jump into a mud bank from a train trestle to avoid a violent confrontation with a speeding locomotive.

Alternatively, Big Boy is out and about in the city of Charleston living, loving and sometimes bemoaning what it is like to be a young Geechee--and up to no good.

He interviews a jailbird, joins a bootleg operation and falls in love with Nyoka the Jungle girl, all before reaching his eighth birthday!