I finished reading The Franchiser, a 1975 novel by Stanley Elkin which satirizes the loss of human, personalized touch because of the ways so many things are the same all over the country via franchises. Heck, Wal-Mart hadnt even gotten started, though there is one paragraph in the book (cant remember where) in which Elkin almost envisions its inevitability. At any rate, the story of a man named Ben Flesh who inherits the prime rate for loans from his 18 god-siblings (4 sets of triplets, 3 sets of twins, all born within 7 years) and uses the money to buy stores in franchises all over the country, and drives constantly to visit his managers, is funny as can be. Since Flesh also suffers from MS (a metaphor, of course, for the ways in which Americans can no longer feel things), its also, well, not sad, but sometimes a little harsh. This was only the second Elkin book Ive ever read, and he drops in tons of St. Louis tid-bits just for extra fun. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention this novel probably sets the all-time record for most puns in one book.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 13:22:48 +0000
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