"The secret to surviving the worst recession in modern history can be found in the most unlikely place: VERMONT. This according to Green Mountain state native Bob Stannard who believes that Vermont has been in a recession since around 1790. Bob's mystified that the rest of the world is struggling with the effects of a fiscal meltdown. In his view, simply living a lifetime in Vermont is about all you need to prepare yourself for a global meltdown....

Someone is telling the story of the life of Charlie Barnes, and it doesn't appear to be going well. Too often divorced, discontent with life's compromises and in a house he hates, this lifelong schemer and eternal romantic would like out of his present circumstances and into the American dream. But when the twin calamities of the Great Recession and a cancer scare come along to compound his troubles, his dreams dwindle further, and an infinite past...