Fiction. A reprint of the fifth of Stanley Elkin's 17 published works, originally published in 1970, this novel anticipates talk radio and its crazed hosts. Characters include Arnold the Memory Expert, Bernie Perk the burning pharmacist, Henry Harper the 9-year-old orphan millionaire, a woman obsessed by pierced ears, an evil hypnotist, various con men and swindlers and Dick Gibson himself, a character who understands exactly what Americans want and gives it to them. "Stanley Elkin's imagination should be declared a national landmark" (Paul Auster).