The Franchiser (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Stanley Elkin
- First Published: 1976
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Picaresque
- Time of Work: The 1940’s to the 1970’s
- Setting: Various U.S. locations from the South to the West
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: 1970’s
- Locales: United States
Characters Discussed
Ben Flesh, the franchiser (actually the franchisee), born in 1928. His parents die in 1944, and no one bothers to tell him. Two years later, he enrolls in the Wharton School of Business under the G.I. Bill. During his junior year, he inherits from his godfather the prime interest rate, the ability to use money at low cost. He subsequently uses it over the next three decades to buy various franchise operations in an effort not to make money but instead to homogenize the country, to cater to what he perceives is the American public’s “esperanto of simple...
[The entire page is 1097 words long]
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