Small Fortunes: 2two Guys in Pursuit of the American Dream

Texans Jim Teal and Pete Binion--the former a transplanted Ohioan, the latter a native son--once had visions of success American-style as burgeoning entrepreneurs, yet both took falls; each of their stories is told here. As a teenager starting humbly in a fast-food chain, Teal left Ohio with a million dollars' worth of stock and moved to Austin, where he eventually went into the business of selling comic-strip-character T-shirts. Binion graduated from Texas A & M and had begun work on a master's degree there when he became interested in a rare breed of cattle seemingly ideally suited to the American Southwest; he imported a quantity from the Virgin Islands in the hope that they would become a prime breed in this country. Both men failed; the collapse of Binion's dream seems especially unfortunate, in freelance journalist Zuckerman's telling. Still, the book is not depressing: both subjects are sure they'll bounce back. (Jan.)