Without any hopes for the future, he is persuaded by one of his few friends to take part in a "summer camp"—a secluded rural area in Mendocino County, California-and grow marijuana on a large scale.

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.

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.