A story of a first-generation American and the travails of striving to achieve that American dream through Wall Street; it’s a blend of novel, autobiography, philosophical reflection, and social critique. When up-and-coming Wall Streeter Spiro loses his job in a corporate downsizing, he spirals into an ever-deepening depression. Defined by his work, he suddenly realizes he has no real clue who he is outside that work. As Spiro drifts aimlessly, seeking direction and meaning, he tries bartending before leaving New York for Paris and later his ancestral homeland of Greece. It is here, thanks to a grandfatherly old friend, that he discovers his previous efforts were all focused on “doing” rather than “being” and that the true definition of a man is in his accumulated lifetime experiences, not in his job or his salary.
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