Poor No More

Poor No More is a story about Craig Price, a rural North Carolinian who grew up in poverty. As an adult, Price evolved into a tycoon who had amassed a financial fortune. His lifestyle and persona, at first, is appealing to many, yet in the end, he misleads and uses business partners and girlfriends. Unsurprisingly, his family life is a mess. While Craig Price accumulates more and more wealth and ensures that he is poor no more, his life has no ultimate direction and he has forgotten—if he had ever learned—that it is better to have a good name than great riches. Under accusations of tax evasion charges and under contempt of Congress, his financial world crumbles. He had put away a million dollars in a Swiss account, but he later thought: “How rich he’d be, if he owned anything except the million dollars waiting for him in Switzerland.” With the original cover displaying an image of a candle lit at both ends, Poor No More is a story of self-destruction. Despite Craig Price’s despicable actions, Ruark believed, readers still considered the book’s main character, deep down, to be a likeable fellow.