Fast Company, David M. Gross
Fast Company, David M. Gross
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Fast Company
A Memoir of Life, Love, and Motorcycles in Italy

Author: David M. Gross

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Unabridged: 9 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/01/2006

Synopsis

David Gross is working as a corporate lawyer in New York when a friend calls to invite him to move to Bologna to help turn around a legendary Italian motorcycle company, known for its dominance on the track and its inability to turn a profit. Off he heads to the fabled home of marbled meats, radical leftist politics, and bespoke shoes, diving into his new life as the “corporate image consultant” to gearheads while learning to navigate the giddy mores of Bolognese society. There he stokes the business with sexy ad campaigns starring factory workers wearing Versace. Above all, he falls in love with motorcycles, seduced by speed, and realizes that becoming a better rider means tapping into dormant parts of his self that, as it turns out, were just waiting to be unleashed. And when he picks up a handsome, young—and closeted—skinhead, things really get interesting.

About David M. Gross

David Gross attended Brown University and Harvard Law School. He has written on finance for the New York Times, Time, and Newsday, among other publications. He lives in Bologna, Italy. Fast Company is his first book.

About Grover Gardner

Grover Gardner is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Neil

Never read anything by David Gross, the cover of the book promised me a memoir of life, and love, and motorcycles in Italy, now not being mechanically enclined the latter did not interest me, the book goes in great detail about Davids life, I was surprised when this gay love affair appeared, I was j......more

Goodreads review by Jack

“I was alone in Italy.” David Gross, the author of the book, Fast Company has this epiphany of sorts on page 115 when ‘strangely scared’ & barricaded in his new office, as he alarmingly realizes the result of his precipitous decision to finally escape, yet still regret everything familiar in what was......more

Goodreads review by Brent

The parts relating to motorcycles were far more interesting than the parts that dealt with life and love. I only wish that he had somehow not kept the three so distinctly separate within his writing.......more

Goodreads review by Ron

A memoir about the social customs of Bologna, Italy, and life as a gay male making a mid-life career change from corporate NYC lawyer to image consultant at Ducati motorcycles.......more

Quotes

“[Gross’] sharp, wry memoir meshes well with a close-up picture of a small corner in the global economy.” Oregonian

“[Gross’] book is filled with insight on the city and corporate color, especially the chapters devoted to his coworkers, who include the World War II–obsessed company historian and the volatile, eccentric chief of design…In examining Italian corporate and social culture, Gross…has done a solid job.” Publishers Weekly

“Assorted Italians, transplanted Brits, and apartment roommates make for lively characters…Gardner’s pronunciations are spot-on, giving listeners the feeling they’re gaining an Italian lesson as well as a slice of culture. Gardner’s expressive intonation and passionate voices make the journey amusing.” AudioFile

“Talk about culture shock: Gross had no idea…that he would have to learn a whole new set of social rules and a whole new way of living…The book is also something of a comedy of manners, as Gross, the typical American, fumbles his way through the considerably more laid-back Italian society. Lots of fun.” Booklist

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