The Business Man

For inventiveness and front, Slippin' Jimmy from 'Better Call Saul' takes some beating. He had at least his equal, though, way back in the 1840s - in the shape of Peter Profitt, the anti-hero of 'The Business Man'.

After a nurse cracked his head against a bedpost, young Profitt lost the capacity for regularity or systems.

Convinced that it is his fate, he becomes an entrepreneur after a fall-out with his employer over a penny

His first business is to build filthy, rundown hovels - spite houses - next to new mansions and then demand 500pc of their value to demolish them.

Next, he starts fights and sues the victim for attacking him before he demands money from people for him not to splash mud on them.

With a demanding dog becoming his partner, as well as deliberation on whether Profitt should run for office or not, the hilarious story careers through a host of businesses and wild ideas.

If you like Poe's crazy characters and comical street scenes, you will love 'A Confederacy of Dunces' by John Kennedy Toole.



Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American poet, author, and literary critic. Despite a brief life, he was celebrated for his poetry, short stories and tales of the supernatural. He is also regarded as the inventor of the detective genre and a contributor to the emergence of science fiction, dark romanticism, and weird fiction.

In 1827, Poe joined the US Army under an assumed name and had his first collection, 'Tamerlane and Other Poems,' published anonymously. He worked as a literary critic and moved around America, writing as he went while his works gradually built an audience.

His most famous works include ´The Raven´ (1945), ´The Black Cat´ (1943), and ´The Gold-Bug´ (1843).