The Illuminated Donkey

Stanley Elkin, my favorite writer and a huge influence on me, died seven years ago today. If you're looking for something terrific to read, pick up The Dick Gibson Show or The Franchiser

Stanley Elkin, who never quite got himself a name, wrote a novel called The Franchiser about a man who gains a strange inheritance from his wealthy godfather. He is given the right to borrow money at the prime rate in perpetuity. This lucky legatee, Ben Flesh by name, uses the leverage to buy franchises: Burger Kings, Travel Inns, Texaco service stations, all the roadside's hideous familiarity. He spends his days driving from one franchise to another, a man with nothing but names, none of which is his own and all of which he owns. It's a Great American Novel. [Gary Greenberg in McSweeney's]

And if anybody from St. Louis is out there, shine up his star for me, please.