Budding Prospects

Capitalism in the North American tradition is examined throughout the book - although mostly from an illegal business framework. The book specifically focuses on the ironic use of capitalism by society's subversive elements. The financier of the project, Vogelsang, is described as an apprentice to Andrew Carnegie or Jay Gould, and involved in various investments and trading of commodities. Vogelsang's agricultural expert, Boyd Dowst, is described as an optimistic Yankee farmer with a Master's degree from Yale. The opening two epigraphs quote Benjamin Franklin and the Death of a Salesman. A water pipeline, central to the survival of the group's crop and enterprise, comes under attack at various points in the book from a neighbor and a bear. At one point, the proprietor of an illegal glory-hole-based sexual business is described with great similarity to J. P. Morgan - his rosacea, his affinity for cigars, his cane, and a copy of The Wall Street Journal.[1] In another passage, Felix expands upon the group's beliefs in and possible disillusionment with - if the project fails - the principles of the classless society, upward mobility, and the law of the jungle.[2]

The authorities are largely symbolized by the California Highway Patrol, and are one of the many threats to the group's illegal enterprise. Felix's paranoid thoughts focus on Officer Jerpbak, with whom he has several hostile and unrelated encounters throughout. The book is set during the high profile war on drugs in Northern California administered by George Deukmejian in the early 1980s.