The Volunteer is a dramatic, exciting and pleasurable novel about the vocational and personal life of Michael Napolitano, a VISTA volunteer in the tough economic times of the early 1980's during the Reagan presidency. The Story's hero, Michael, empathisizes and brings compassion to the many victims of poverty in the fictional town of Bluefield in Western Massachusetts, but must fight the system all the way, in particular political and business interests that come into dramatic conflict with him in his role as a VISTA volunteer, a federal anti-poverty worker at a human service agency that serves the poor. Fortunately, good friends, a cowboy from the old west and a passionate love affair with an older woman saves Michael from complete defeat and despondency. An exciting and original work of fiction by a very talented Italian-American novelist.