"Money Talks to the New Man" is a review of The Boss by Goffredo Parise, a translation by William Weaver from the Italian Il Padrone. It was printed in the New York Times Book Review on October 2, 1966.
Summary[]
Goffredo Parise, 1965
When Vonnegut worked at General Electric, he was rated every six months by three co-workers. Once he was told he had "[n]o personality," which may be why he now reviews so many books about depersonalized people. In this one—by the 36 year old Parise, who is also a journalist and film director—the protagonist is much like Vonnegut was at G.E.: a country boy newly at work in a city, although he suffers humiliations on a much grander scale. Parise seemingly has only just discovered the Industrial Revolution and believes the results are mixed.
The main character is told that his misfortunes are the result of Free Enterprise and that all bosses everywhere will treat him like property. His situation only worsens. Workers are indeed commonly humiliated and endure it because of fear or the need for money, but Parise's characters are baroque and unreal. His message has been stated more effectively by many other authors and this novel demonstrates that showing the torture of employment is more instructive when the setting looks like a real business.[1]
- ↑ "Money Talks to the New Man", New York Times Book Review, October 2, 1966, pg. 4.