CivilWarLand in Bad Decline

Evelyn is the wife of the protagonist in “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,” and Marcus and Howie are their children. On Halloween, at the theme park, Howie, who has dressed up as an accountant, has his ledger shot by Sam. Towards the end of the story, Evelyn leaves the protagonist, taking the kids with her.

Mr. A is the protagonist’s boss and owner of the theme park in “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline.” With a sizable gang presence hurting the theme park’s revenue, Mr. A decides to hire Sam, an ex-soldier brought on to keep the park safe, but who winds up killing park attendees. At the end of “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline,” Mr. A sets the theme park on fire to collect the insurance money.

Sam is a former soldier who “got kicked out of Vietnam for participating in a bloodbath” (14). While his expertise with firearms helps lower gang presence at the theme park, he’s also psychotic and kills more than one innocent person. He also kills the protagonist at the end of “CivilWarLand in Bad Decline.”

Split Lip is Isabelle’s father in the story “Isabelle.” He’s a cop, loves his daughter, and murders a black teenager who is the brother of Norris Crane. Split Lip eventually dies in his sleep.

Called “Boneless” for almost the entire story, Isabelle is Split Lip’s daughter, and she Is both physically and developmentally disabled. She spends her days, while still in the care of Split Lip, in their home, alone. After Split Lip dies, she is forced to move to a state-run home, before the protagonist takes her in.

Norris Crane is the brother of the boy Split Lip drowns. After the murder, Norris becomes a “wino,” and vows revenge, eventually breaking into Split Lip’s home and pointing a gun at Split Lip. Split Lip begs for his life, and Norris ultimately turns the gun on himself and commits suicide.

Leo is the protagonist’s brother in the story “Isabelle.” He becomes a white supremacist after his mother is assaulted by a group of black males, eventually assaulting a black male himself, enlisting in the Army, going overseas to fight, and coming back far more sadistic than when he left.

Clive is the boy the protagonist of “The Wavemaker Falters” accidentally kills by not paying attention to his job. The ghost of Clive comes and visits the protagonist at night, telling him about all the things Clive would have gotten to do if he were still alive.

Simone is the protagonist’s partner in “The Wavemaker Falters.”She works at the same theme park as he does. While she tries to push the protagonist to update his resumé and get a better job, he doesn’t. Simone ultimately has an affair with Leon, their direct supervisor.

Leon is “Subquadrant Manager” at the theme park where the protagonist of “The Wavemaker Falters” works. He’s steeped in the corporate culture of the park and very by-the-book. He also attempts to better himself through taking a geology class at a local community college. He and Simone have an affair.

Jeffrey is the morbidly obese protagonist of “The 400-Pound CEO.” He works at Humane Raccoon Alternatives, where his job is involves invoicing and trapping raccoons in supposedly-humane ways, only to then kill them and dump their corpses in a communal burial pit. Jeffrey kills Tim, his boss, and then makes himself boss of the company. This lasts for under a day, as Jeffrey’s co-worker, Claude, discovers Tim’s body and has Jeffrey arrested. Jeffrey is sentenced to 50 years in prison for killing Tim.

Tim, the protagonist’s boss in “The 400-Pound CEO,” may be viewed as late capitalist entrepreneurialism personified. Devoid of humanity, Tim is presented as a sociopath whose bottom line is profit. Jeffrey kills Tim after Tim attempts to assault the investigative journalist who has learned of the real fate of the raccoons trapped by Humane Raccoon Alternatives.

Freeda works at Humane Raccoon Alternatives. She is a love interest of Jeffrey’s, is a single mother, and is attracted to Tim. At one point in “The 400-Pound CEO,” Freeda goes on a date with Jeffrey on a bet, with Tim paying her phone bill if Freeda will be seen in public with Jeffrey. She’s also allows herself to be willingly abused in Tim’s basement sex dungeon.

Mrs. Ken Schwartz is the elderly woman in “Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz.” The protagonist, after the death of his wife, Elizabeth, provides volunteer caregiving for her. Later, he offloads her memories to make money, then offloads his own memories so that Schwartz can get better live-in help.

While never actually named in the story, it can be assumed that Mary is the name of the protagonist in “Downtrodden Mary’s Failed Campaign of Terror.” Her brother was killed when she was young, and she married an abusive man who murdered Mary’s lover and worked for gangsters. At the end of the story, Mary attempts to kill herself but is saved by sailors. She attempts to take her own life because she has been fired from her job at an interactive museum, where she repeatedly poisoned see-through cows.

The protagonist of “Bounty,” who is unnamed, is a “Flawed,” a person born with a genetic mutation. His specific mutation is having claws instead of toes. Along with his sister, Connie, the protagonist is abandoned by their parents at BountyLand, a theme park for the wealthy modeled after a medieval castle. After Connie leaves to marry Corbett, a rich suitor, the protagonist has his Flawed bracelet removed and begins a cross-country trek to find her. He is enslaved by slave traders along the way but ultimately reaches Connie in Taos, New Mexico, before leaving her to join a resistance movement centered on equal rights for Flaweds.