Book Review: “The Other Profile” by Irene Graziosi
The Influencer
Irene Graziosi’s The Other Profile, translated from Italian, is a novel that is about as tart as they come. It’s about social media and the world of influencers, and begs to ask the question: just exactly who is the influencer and who is being influenced? It’s a story that’s relevant for our times, but your liking of this book will come down to a few things: namely, how much you like the Internet and how much you are drawn to people (or characters) who are vapid and insipid. It’s another one of these fairly short reads that I’ve saddled myself with (I read it partially in two short sittings and then finished it in one longer sitting), but it’s not exactly what I would call an entertaining read. It’s harrowing and haunting and full of characters that you’d probably want to throw a book at if you had to spend any exorbitant amount of time with in real life. The reason is that The Other Profile is populated by people who are famous solely for the reason that they’re famous and have about as much appeal as the surface of the products that they’ve been hired to be brand ambassadors for. However, I’m probably getting too far ahead of myself here.
I should probably back up and relate the plot of this novel. It concerns a young woman named Maia who is in her mid-20s and who has fled with her boyfriend from Paris, where she was pursuing a Master’s degree, for the climes of Milan, Italy. She is mourning the loss of her sister, Eva, who suffered from mental health issues and died by her own hand. Maia meets a teenager named Gloria who is something of a social media phenom with hundreds of thousands of followers who hires Maia to be her image consultant — in other words, her job is to help Gloria shape the narrative of her shapeless life. Things go well at first, even though Maia doesn’t feel the compulsion to quit her waitressing job, and Maia finds herself in the position of being theoretically hired as Gloria’s friend, largely. Maia makes a lot of money, Gloria gets a narrative to her life on social media channels, and everyone should be happy, right? Well, when Gloria borrows some of Maia’s grief over her sister when mourning a loss in her own life, lines are crossed.
I guess I can come out and say that this wasn’t a book meant for me. It’s meant for someone 20 years younger than me (I am 48 years old), and feel a little out of sorts when it comes to all things social media. Sure, I’ve taken communications courses in how to use social media as part of my past freelancing career, but things such as Facebook and the former Twitter seem amorphous to me. It’s so easy to get traction in the educational materials, but, when applied to real life, finding an audience has always seemed to me to be more of an art than the science that communications professionals would have you believe. In short, I’m pretty sure that social media was invented for Millennials. I think you have to be of a certain age to “get” it, just as you have to be of a certain age to “get” this book. I think part of the problem with The Other Profile is that its characters are so unlikable. Maia is a constant troublemaker: she leaves the interview for the job with Gloria by keying one of her assistants’ car. (A trait that endears Gloria to Maia because the former sees the latter as an honest person, not the petty criminal that she really is.) Much of the tone of this book is sardonic, and I found it to be strangely anti-men. I know that feminism rears its head in this book as a topicality, but men in this book come across as sex-starved yahoos who are only interested in the main characters for one thing and one thing only.
In the end, I can see some value in The Other Profile. It has a weird sense of humour, but it’s funny if you enjoy schadenfreude. The novel is briskly written, to be read in the same way that you would eat those gummy crocodiles that Maia purchases but throws out as soon as she eats a small portion of them. This is simply pop literature, the kind of thing that people might have trouble reading 100 years from now as its appeal rests with familiarity with social media platforms. (Strangely, Facebook and Twitter — or X — are not mentioned, but Instagram does get namechecked.) To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to make of The Other Profile but let that not dissuade you from reading it — if you are of a certain age. If you’re young, and you “get” social media, you’ll probably find a great deal to appreciate here. If you are a Luddite and don’t use social media, well, the point of the novel might be lost on you. Still, as a condemnation of appropriation, this book has some bon mots and its smug sense of debauchery may appeal to some, probably mostly women. Should you read this book? Well, if you like things that will leave a sour taste in your mouth, the answer is probably yes. And if you’re crazy about socials, then sure, make sure you get a copy of this. For the rest of us, life will merrily march along and we will sit around in caves and huts and avoid signing up for the newest industry. I guess some things will never change once you get over the hump of being 40.
Irene Graziosi’s The Other Profile will be published by Europa Editions on February 20, 2024.
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