The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow ( Fic Doctorow)
Cory Doctorow's new novel contains lots of historical trivia that I had not known before. For example, the economist John Kenneth Galbraith coined the term "bezzle" (from the word "embezzle") in the 1950s to describe the time between the beginning of a crime and its detection. During this time, the victims of a con enjoy "psychic wealth," money they do not have in reality -- only they don't know it yet. This work of fiction contains plenty of tragically true factual information, but like most good crime novels, the names have been changed to protect the guilty. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department gang in The Bezzle does not exist in reality, but these gangs did (still do?) exist and have the gang tattoos to boot. President Gerald Ford did intercede on behalf of a major campaign donor, Richard DeVos (father-in-law to Betsy) in order to save Amway from the FTC. And the names of specific prisons in California are the only fictitious element of how they operate after the 3-strikes law went into effect followed by prison privatization. I found so much of this so unbelievable that I fact-checked it - Yikes!
A Doctorow recurring character, Marty Hench, works as a forensic accountant -- kind of a bean-counter bounty hunter. He selects his clients carefully in order for his 25% take of all the money he discovers to provide him with enough income to escape the 9-5 grind. Escape he does, to Catalina Island, no less. Intended, designed, and maintained as a playground for the rich, the Island plays host to people so wealthy that " …their f*ck you money has f*ck you money." While visiting a friend on the Island who has recently worked his way into the millionaire class, Hench amuses himself by acting as an amateur anthropologist, observing these uber-wealthy individuals in their habitat. But he and his friend spend most of their time with the people who serve the rich (in various ways), which leads him to stumble upon a bizarre operation to import fast-food hamburgers. This begins a series of events that takes Hench down a long, twisting rabbit-hole of lies, greed, pettiness, and cruelty. By the end you wonder, are we all living in a bezzle?
