Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. Yes, I know, I should have read it years ago, since it's a seminal work of 20th century American Literature. I recently finished Jack's Book, a biography of Kerouac, and Angel was a major influence on him, Ginsburg, Miller, and the other beats.
Last one prior to this was an autobio by Gabriel Garcia Marquez called Living to Tell the Tale, and I found it exceedingly slow going.
from Look Homeward, Angel, as exact a description of greed as I've come across...
" He ground out the life of his cigarette against an ashtray, and began a rapid window calculation of his horses, asses, kine, swine, and hens; the stored plenitude of his great barn, the heavy fruitage of his fields and orchards. A man came toward the house with a bucket of eggs in one hand and a bucket of butter in the other; each cake was stamped qwith a sheaf of wheat and wrapped loosely in clean white linen cloths. He smiled grimly: If attacked he could withstand a prolonged seige."