Everett A. ("Moon") Lunamin returns from battles in Vietnam determined to gain wealth and social status by becoming an entrepreneur in the coal industry at the height of the coal boom in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Moon struggles with his cousin George Landsetter, a reclamation officer, and his surface mining competitors, Dave Blackmun and Dab Whacker, whose greed exceeds their business ability and ethics. Lunamin's efforts succeed to a degree far beyond what he had imagined. After some missteps, he realizes his goal of marrying his high school sweetheart, Susan Stanard, whose family is duly impressed with his newly acquired wealth. Moon is less happy than his wife with their material success. They drift apart and seek companionship outside their marriage. In love with another woman, Lunamin pleads for a divorce, but Susan refuses because she wants to keep the lifestyle Lunamin's fortune provides. Conflicts sour Lunamin's success. Quarrels with his wife, his fellow surface miners, his cousins, the IRS, and a local district attorney bedevil Moon, who struggles to save his business, his reputation, and his life.