When I read "A Hologram for the King", I noticed different aspects that I would like to develop. In my opinion, this book is about much more than just the decay of American business. It's about the life of a poor man who tries to deal with his difficult situation. So before beginning, let's have a short summary. Alan Clay, an ex-consultant and a victim of the Recession, is now a 54-years-old business man hired by Reliant in order to present a new technology, a holographic teleconference system, to the King Abdullah. By landing this contact, he would solve all his money problems as he is a debt?ridden man. Across the book and the wait for the king to come, Alan remembers his past and wonders about his purpose in the life.
             First of all, in my opinion, this story is about the nothingness both physical and psychological. On one hand, we can talk about a real physical desert because the whole story takes place in Saudi Arabia, which is not known for its luxury forests but for its small shrubs which don't need a lot of water. More particularly, the story takes place in King Abdullah Economic City which, according to the book, comprises only three buildings. For a city-to-be, it's a kind of desert. "The landscape was flat and blank. Anything built here, an unrelenting desert, was an act of sheer will imposed on territory unsuited for habitation." (A Hologram for the King, p34) "They drove a mile before they arrived at a modest gate, a pair of stone arches over the road, a great dome atop it all. It was as if someone had built a road through unrepentant desert, and then erected a gate somewhere in the middle, to imply the end of one thing and the beginning of another. It was hopeful but unconvincing." (A Hologram for the King, p40)
             On the other hand, when I talk about "psychological nothingness", I allude to Alan's life and relations. He's divorced from his wife, Ruby,...