Chapters 1 through 8 Summary

Chapter 1 introduces the book with a fairly cryptic statement that does not impact the plot. In Chapter 2 Claude Sylvanshine is introduced. Sylvanshine works for the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, at IRS locations known as Regional Examination Centers, or RECs. His boss is named Merrill Errol Lehrl. Claude reflects on an unspecified business disaster that occurred at his last posting at the Rome (probably New York) REC. Sylvanshine feels grateful to Lehrl for rescuing him from the Rome situation and getting him reassigned to the Peoria, Illinois, REC. Sylvanshine takes a plane trip as part of his relocation. Sylvanshine reflects, in a stream-of-consciousness process, on the airplane travel, his boss 'Mel' Lehrl, and his reassignment. He also thinks about his roommate, Reynolds. Sylvanshine is a GS-9 while Reynolds is a GS-11, making Reynolds Sylvanshine's theoretical superior. Sylvanshine and Reynolds share an...