(Reviewed by JD Jung)
What begins as a humble, self-sufficient life running a Kansas corn dog stand turns into a sharp, darkly comic satire of greed, hustle culture, and America’s obsession with easy wealth.
Ralph, his wife Phyllis, and their daughter Stella run a popular corn dog shop in Kansas. They raise their own pigs, grow their own corn, and Ralph and Stella take pride in the self-sufficiency that sustains both their business and their sense of dignity. While Ralph spends his free time reading Plato and the Greek philosophers, Phyllis spends her time in the office watching the game show, “The Price is Right”, while handling the finances. She dreams of escaping from what she sees as the drudgery of the middle class, longing for wealth with little work.
One day when Phyllis is watching television, an infomercial comes on featuring “The Money Master” who promises wealth through a few simple, but expensive courses at the Dollartorium . At that point the Money Master quite literally pops out of the television to persuade Phyllis. His greed, get-rich-quick philosophy, and slick promises pull her in. What follows is not so much traditional, cautionary tale, but a darkly comic mirror of contemporary society, where wealth gurus, hustle culture, and the worship of power dominate public imagination.
Author Ron Pullins keeps the reader engaged through satire and the absurd, while exposing the seductive danger of becoming sycophants to the rich and powerful — those who promise abundance by cheating the middle class and poor, insisting there is never enough to go around.
Dollartorium defends values often dismissed as naïve: honest work, contentment, community, and care for others. It also warns us to think and not blindly follow. Funny, unsettling, and timely, it asks readers to reconsider what success truly means.