Phil Granchi, Author of 'Mart of Darkness,' Interviewed by Chris Cordani on Book Spectrum Radio: What would happen if everyone on Earth had everything they wanted? How does our materialistic and consumer-driven society shape our humanity? If this present civilization of seemingly endless economic growth ended, what would humanity become? Debut author Phil Granchi utilizes satire to explore these questions and more in Mart of Darkness, a comic dystopian thriller that invites readers to both laugh and reflect on the state of the world. Mart of Darkness explores these questions through the eyes of its protagonist, Ted K, a slacker, wanna-be screenwriter who survives on temp jobs. With no real marketable skills and not much writing talent, he finds himself accidentally assigned to a government Special Forces unit. Their mission is to neutralize Kurtis McAlsteinetti, the CEO of AllMart, who has lost touch with reality and is plotting to take down the world’s economy—and Ted is in way over his head. Alternately bewildered and terrified, Ted gives the reader a first person point of view as the team journeys, both literally and allegorically, through the vast expanse of the sprawling AllMart flagship store. Together they cross hundreds of square miles, face off zombie shoppers, Purple Poncho People, “Converts,” and brave their way through special promotions like McAlsteinetti’s famed “Black Light Blowout.” Peril lurks in the aisles as they cross an inland sea of close-out DVDs, aptly named the Videocean, and snake through the wild canyon of 55-gallon drums of pickles known as Gherkin Gorge. As a comic retelling of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, with proper homage to Apocalypse Now, the team is progressively downsized through a series of tragic and comedic mishaps. With the team growing smaller and uncountable obstacles in their path, can they make it to the Mezzanine and their meeting with AllMart Senior Management? Will they be able to complete their mission? And what role does K, with his “special skills” (or lack thereof), have to play in what awaits them?Granchi draws from his career background, including roles such as project geologist, production artist, web producer, and improvisational comedian, combining these experiences to bring the reader Mart of Darkness. During a stint as a graphic artist for marketing agencies, Granchi noticed that the same almost mystical language and ideas used to promote credit and convince consumers to “increase your buying power” actually permeates our society in many different forms. Trained as a scientist, he says, “I naturally started wondering what would happen if you extrapolated that thinking into the absurd future where people might literally structure their own lives around buying stuff, to the point where they actually lived inside a huge store in a symbiotic relationship with the store itself. Mart of Darkness was born.

Genre

Entertainment