Christ in Concrete is a 1939 novel by Pietro Di Donato about Italian-American construction workers. The book, which made Di Donato famous, was originally published by Esquire Magazine as a short story and was expanded into a novel by Di Donato.
The novel was inspired by the death of Di Donato's father in a construction accident on Good Friday in 1923. It tells the story of a bricklayer and his struggle to provide a home for his family.
As indicated by the title, the novel is noted for its rich religious imagery, presented in a largely modernist stream-of-conciousness style. It was adapted into a 1949 motion picture, Give Us This Day (U.S. title Christ in Concrete) and was directed by Edward Dmytryk.
Famous quotes containing the words christ and/or concrete:
“Scepticism is true; for after all, men before Jesus Christ did not know where they were, nor whether they were great or small. And those who have said the one or the other, knew nothing about it, and guessed without reason and by chance. They also erred always in excluding the one or the other.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“We are all hungry and thirsty for concrete images. Abstract art will have been good for one thing: to restore its exact virginity to figurative art.”
—Salvador Dali (1904–1989)