In the past, the protagonist became sought after for his expertise in naming products and soon was a leader in the company. He could come up with names almost instantly, often holding them back for a few days so that clients wouldn’t think he was “superhuman” (57). He dated, but not seriously. A magazine listed him as one of the city’s 50 Most Eligible Bachelors, which earned him more dates. Through all his success, he worried that some accident or misfortune would befall him. The Apex campaign was his greatest success, but it also led to his misfortune.

In the present, the protagonist reads the history of Winthrop, which overtly praises the Winthrop family. Sterling Winthrop made his fortune in barbed wire, a popular product because farmers and homesteaders in the late 19th century needed to fence off their land. The history—which the protagonist thinks reads more like a corporate brochure—refers to the town’s original inhabitants as “a loose band of colored settlers” (60), minimizing their claim to the area. The protagonist notes that Winthrop and the settlers made a law changing the town’s name, which means that the town had another name before Winthrop arrived.