Budding Prospects

infobox Book |
name = Budding Prospects
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = US edition cover
author = T. C. Boyle
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Viking Press
release_date = May 3, 1984
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 326 p. (first edition, hardback)
isbn = ISBN 0-670-19439-5 (first edition, hardback)
preceded_by = Water Music
followed_by = Greasy Lake

"Budding Prospects" is a 1984 novel by T. C. Boyle about a loser who plans to get rich by illegally growing marijuana.

Plot

Felix Nasmyth, the first person narrator, is a young man who, as he tells readers right at the beginning of the book, has "always been a quitter." 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 where that friend plans to grow marijuana on a large scale.

The illegal business venture seems doomed from the start, but the small group of friends do not show enough discipline and also have too little experience in farming or bookkeeping to notice that. On top of it all, a local peace officer suspects funny business up at the Nasmyth and Company's "camp." In the end, the "summer camp" has to close down without any profit.

Nasmyth, however, has made the acquaintance of a lovely girl and has fallen in love with her. So he ends his narrative saying that in the near future he may—again, but this time differently—"plant a little seed."

Book information

"Budding Prospects" by T. C. Boyle
*Hardcover - ISBN 0-670-19439-5 (first edition) published by Viking Press
*Paperback - ISBN 0-14-029996-3 published by Penguin Books

External links

* [http://www.tcboyle.com T.C. Boyle official web site]