The Man Who Is Fully Self-Driving

AIZ SIDDIQUI'S LITERARY carnage of Elon Musk is a delight for conspiracy theorists and binge followers of socio-economic intrigue. It divides the American population into two unambiguous segments—those who love the man and those who hate him.

- SHIVAJI DASGUPTA

AIZ SIDDIQUI'S LITERARY carnage of Elon Musk is a delight for conspiracy theorists and binge followers of socio-economic intrigue. It divides the American population into two unambiguous segments—those who love the man and those who hate him. The former stretching every sinew to further his seemingly unscrupulous agenda, while the latter necessarily gaping at his chutzpah, without being able to intervene sufficiently.

Two major arenas occupy much of the narrative—electric carmaker Tesla and thought disruptor X. The cast and crew are marinaded in uncompromising audacity—whether reckless technology development, Stalinist purges in corporate structures or the relentless ability to manipulate policy makers and industry icons. Therefore, suggesting a twisted Orwellian version of the American Dream, now seemingly one reckless man's prerogative and no longer a license for every sincere fellow.

The narrative begins with the accidental death of Huang, a passionate lover of Musk's autopilot Tesla vehicles, on a highway due to tech failures, whether caused by man, machine or the alliance of both, up for much debate. Musk initially appears to be cooperative in the investigation process, when Robert Sumwalt takes charge of investigations. But he soon takes a deliberate U-turn and when Missy Cummings from the NHTSA, the safety board, takes charge, the atmosphere turns ferociously hostile. Cummings, a former fighter pilot, is invested in LIDAR, a technology competing with the Tesla worldview, and she soon is the recipient of direct and clandestine personal threats. Seemingly orchestrated by folks like Omar Qazi, a Musk fan boy, on a mission to smoothen every circuit for the guru's electric dreams.