The Franchiser (Magill’s Choice: American Ethnic Writers)
At a glance:
- Author: Stanley Elkin
- First Published: 1976
- Type of Plot: Picaresque
- Time of Work: The mid-1970’s
- Setting: Various and scattered locations in the United States, from Ringgold, Georgia, to Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Principal Characters: Ben Flesh, Julius Finsberg, Patty Finsberg, Tanner
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: 1970’s
- Locales: United States
The Novel
The protagonist of The Franchiser suffers from multiple sclerosis, a disease that deteriorates the nervous system. Between attacks of the disease, Ben Flesh roams the American landscape, “the packed masonry of states,” looking after the massive network of franchises he has built upon an inheritance from his godfather, Julius Finsberg, an industrial kingpin. What Ben inherits from Finsberg, who has cheated Ben’s father out of his share of a successful business, is not a substantial sum of money but the prime interest rate—“Not money but the use of...
[The entire page is 2146 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
