Workshop of the Second Self

by Gary Wolf

The year is 2030. The place is Centerville, a typical city.Clifton Pembroke is a young professional with a promising career in the field of "disability advocacy." He helps people raise their disability profile-a single index that encompasses every variety of injustice and disadvantage that may befall an individual.Raising one's disability profile can bring a host of benefits, including subsidies and preferential treatment. But some people are no longer satisfied with these benefits. They assert that their very birth was an injustice, that a fundamental travesty has occurred, that in fact they should have been a different person.They even know who that other person is, and they intend to receive their just compensation-by obtaining the legal right to seize the other's identity.Clifton becomes entangled in ethical dilemmas that run to the core of what it means to be human. In choosing sides, he must make difficult, even dangerous decisions. In his search for answers, he gropes in the darkness until he meets the people who are building the workshop of the second self.

200 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2006

Reviews

[Vincy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise for this novel was fantastic and I loved the very ideas behind the dystopian and extremely plausible future Wolf imagines in front of us.[return][return]That being said, I thought it was poorly executed. Actually a really good editor or some prelim. feedback for the author could have fixed most of my issues with the narrative. I think Wolf went into detail over too many inconsequential things. When I see a character or item or activity described in detail I expect the character, item, or activity to be important later on. I don't need to know that the coffee a character bought was strong and black if it has no reference or overtones related to the story at large. I found this book filled with these kinds of issues.[return][return]I think someone did Wolf a disservice by allowing this book to be published without an extensive rewrite. There was so much potential and all he needed was a little guidance to get there. [return][return]I could have seen this book moving into the mainstream and possibly becoming a classic of utopian/dystopian fiction. But that just didn't happen.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gary Wolf's book Workshop of the Second Self is a very entertaining read. I loved the concept of the society running amok. I found myself not wanting to put the book down.
Clifton Pembroke is a disability advocate that winds up having some one make a claim against him. To see all these different disabilities being used to help people that are 'less fortunate' to get a job or be come the person that they feel they are entitled to.
I have never read a book like this before that I found some similarities to things in the real world. I don't know if similarities is the right word. I just mean I can see how society could come to be just like Centerville in the book. I highly recommend this book. I give this book 4 1/2 stars.