I find it more difficult to discuss craft in a non-fiction collection of essays, but I noticed after a few pages that Gerard seems to be playing with the structure of the story. It is organized in scenes that alternate between facts about Amway and their business ventures and lawsuits, and scenes that take us into the real estate of Amway with the all-too perky, fake blonde realtor. Gerard also includes flashbacks to her childhood, loving the large home and the never-ending feeling of being included. There’s a sort of transformation at work; as a child, Gerard becomes the embodiment of everything that can go wrong in a cultish environment like this community: she’s a spoiled brat. We see her later in life develop a kind awareness of what she and her husband are buying into. However, she begins this essay with an italicized sentence to inform us that some sections are “fictionalized composite accounts.” She repeats “We’ve gone Diamond, we tell the Realtor. We’re buying a house in Feather Sound. We’re starting a family.” The houses gradually become more expensive until there is no price listed and things suddenly change. In the last two pages, we learn that Richard DeVos, one of the founders of Amway, lives in a community not unlike the Bayou Club, everyone is agreeable, everyone is wealthy. He’s living in a fantasy while the world attempts to sue him for everything he’s worth. She ends with a $100 million settlement in a class action lawsuit, sort of a reality check for the readers and for DeVos.

Repetition is used in several sections of Gerard’s essay. In one passage she repeats “imagine,” imagining a luxurious lifestyle with “opulent chandeliers” and “home theaters.” Later, she writes “listen to them. Listen to them. Listen.” There is something dystopian in the way Gerard explains this community. They only interact with other members of Amway, they read about Amway, they talk about Amway, they attend conventions and conferences for Amway. She later writes that in Wilbur Cross’ book Amway: The True Story of the Company That Transformed the Lives of Millions (what a longwinded title), the company’s methods and business plan are never actually divulged, making it seem even more strange and elusive.

In an earlier post, I wrote that Gerard seemed to be warning us against the corruption of the law or its failure to protect victims of spousal abuse. To some extent, I think she is doing the same in “Going Diamond.” Amway claims to be a corporation built on dreams and the achievement of dreams, but Gerard is showing us everything it isn’t. They claim to defend freedom but, ironically, their neighborhoods are identical, without individuality and with strict limitations: no kids on the golf course, in fact, they’d prefer no people on the golf course at all. Gerard reveals toward the end that her mother never wanted to be a part of Amway, to begin with, and for good reason. Oddly enough, while reading an article on the multilevel corporation, I realized that there were far more lawsuits than there was actual information on the company.