Christ in Concrete Author:Pietro Di Donato One of the 20th century's greatest works of social protest-and its 21st-century message. — A classic examination of the American experience for hard-working Italian immigrants living in New York City's Lower East Side shortly before the Great Depression, Christ in Concrete focuses on a family's struggle against harsh economic r... more »ealities and tenement living.« less
This is not a great novel; in fact it is quite tedious in several places. It takes some time to adapt to the English patois of the immigrant Italian. Also, unless you can abide the overtly Roman Catholic dialog, this is not a book for you. The story concerns the immigrant bricklayers who build New York's skyscrapers. As such, the author probes the attitudes of investors versus cheap labor in much the way that Upton Sinclair approached the abuses in the food packaging industry (The Jungle), coal mining (King Coal), and finance (King Midas). In this the investors and their minions are allowed manslaughter with impunity.