Birotteau is Parisian merchant: successful, moderately well to do. But, wealth begets wealth, so to speak: they all want more. He is also a Deputy Mayor and is soon to be a recipient of the Legion of Honor. (A Royalist, he received the million franc wound in a confrontation with the Napolionists. He reminds the reader of this so consistently that I think that I am listening to Al Bundy relate his scoring of four touchdowns in one game in high school football. One more time and Ill barf. Anyway, Birotteau now schemes to manufacture his wares as well as to sell them; he also enters a real estate scheme guaranteed to return fast money. And, what with his Legion of Honor and all, why not expand his living quarters and give a grand ball in his own honor? Lets do it! Borrow to the hilt and above. Well he has risen to the top, now for the fall. The day after the ball he is a virtual pauper. So, in the vein of Zolas LArgent (Money) and La Curée (The Kill), Balzac warns us to beware of get rich quick schemes. Too bad that no one listens, particularly business and government! There are several American counterparts to this novel:Howells The Rise of Silas Latham, Derisers Trilogy of Greed (The Financier, The Titan, The Stoic, Norris The Pit, are dominant among several others. At any rate, as with the Zola novels, you may wallow through the technicalities of finance and bankruptcy, and be bored to tears with his meticulous meandering through the redesign of Birotteaus apartment and his development of his guest list, but these you may leaf through; you will get the drift of the novel.

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