Daniel Thomas lies in a pit of chicken excrement. He has been there for hours and when the paramedics are unable to resuscitate him a call is made to his son, Joshua, who is away at school. Being left without parents and no longer tied to his hometown, Joshua sells the family farm and moves to Chica-go.Time Spent Away is Joshua's account of himself as he works through grief and love, the opportunities and dan-gers of the city, the joys and limits of wealth and art and what it means to seek after God in a place where such a search seems irrelevant.