Don LoCicero
The Apparatus is an insightful satire on government bureaucracy, personal identity and confused human relationships. Set in World War II America, the novel transcends geographical borders and is timeless. The characters in The Apparatus remain nameless, defined by their functions rather than their individuality.LoCicero’s narrator, a young man with an extraordinary ability, recounts his bewildering dealings with the Apparatus, a nebulous organization that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, omnipotent and powerless, omnipresent and invisible, omniscient and unknowing. Its world is a chaotic conglomeration of committees and cubicles, its function unintelligible even to those who are in its most powerful positions. Directing the important Apparatus School, for example, is the 'Head Administrator', a sadistic, femme-fatal whose sexual services are enjoyed by the leaders of many governments. What role does the Apparatus play in our lives? One must read LoCicero’s work to learn the answer, if indeed, there is an answer.
