Truth in Advertising

A Novel

By: John Kenney

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

A wickedly funny, honest, and poignant debut novel in the spirit of Then We Came to the End and This Is Where I Leave You about the absurdity of corporate life, the complications of love, and the meaning of family.

Finbar Dolan is lost and lonely. Except he doesn’t know it. Despite escaping his blue-collar Boston upbringing to carve out a mildly successful career at a Madison Avenue ad agency, he’s a bit of a mess and closing in on 40. He’s recently called off a wedding. Now, a few days before Christmas, he’s forced to cancel a long-postponed vacation in order to write, produce, and edit a Superbowl commercial for his diaper account in record time.

Fortunately, it gets worse. He learns that his long-estranged and once-abusive father has fallen ill. And that neither of his brothers or his sister intend to visit. It’s a wake-up call for Fin to reevaluate the choices he’s made, admit that he’s falling for his co-worker Phoebe, question the importance of diapers in his life, and finally tell the truth about his life and his past.

First-time novelist John Kenney, a regular New Yorker contributor, mines his own advertising background to weave spot-on, compelling insider detail into a hilarious, insightful, at times sardonic, and ultimately moving debut.

©2013 John Kenney (P)2012 Simon & Schuster

A Riotous, Rollicking Rollercoaster!

This is "dysfunction noir", in the tradition of Tropper and Franzen, but with many more hilarious and comedic moments. Having spent many years in a profession similar to that of Finbar Dolan, the protagonist, I could completely relate to the characters in the ad agency and to their conflicts that come from the nature of the parts they must play. Basically this particular plot arc centers on the now-trite adage that the client is always right, and it doesn't matter how creatively you solve an issue, and how many branded celebrities you bring in to a campaign if the client does not relate. Fin both dislikes his job, or at least he doesn't love it, and does not feel "fulfilled" by it, but this is post-2008 financial crisis and he realizes it's a job he's been lucky enough to keep; the concept of fulfillment has been banished to job-market purgatory.

Fin's abusive childhood and his view of the familial nightmare that growing up in the Dolan family play into the present story to a large extent, without any need to hit the reader upside the head with the horrendous deviations from happy family life. There are glimpses into his past, and with those come a few of the reasons why the four siblings have become so estranged. However, the story, like life, is not without the occasional redemptive moment.

The cynical view of being creative on demand is fertile ground for humor, irony, and just plain laugh-out-loud episodes. How many times have I, or anyone else in that judgy, gossipy, whispery, micro-managed, performance-focused environment known as the office wanted to say to some co-worker or underling, or even over-ling, "I don't like your name, so from now on I'm calling you Barbara"?

Which all adds up to an unputdownable story with hilarious in-the-moment scenes from a life, traumatized from birth, channeled into some degree of success, both commercial and personal, seen through the cynical lens of Finbar Dolan.

The narration is perfect, as is the jacket cover - an "homage" to the proprietary Coca Cola font.

5 stars all on all counts.

Great Stuff

Any additional comments?

One advantage of audiobooks is that you can distribute your attention among things other than the materiel. Commute, laundry, walking the dog, making a sandwich, all possible while simultaneously listening to a book. Reading however, means sitting in a chair with your complete attention on the book. As a consequence, my experience is that the comprehension and retention of the audiobook material is usually a fraction of that of a book book.While listening to TRUTH IN ADVERTISING it soon becomes obvious that this is a story to be savored, deserving of your full attention. The writing and the narration is so good that I found myself continually rewinding and replaying passages. I’ll leave a summation of the plot to others. I’ll simply say that the experience is funny, at times tragic, always for me, deeply affecting. Special mention of the narration by Robert Petkoff: it is superb. He uses accents and dramatic reading to great effect. You will enjoy this audiobook while sitting in your favorite chair, not while doing the dishes.

Moving past a disfunctional upbringing

What did you love best about Truth in Advertising?

I loved a number of things about this audiobook - the humor, the descriptions of NYC and the advertising business, the sad story that eventually is revealed and the redemption. It's beautifully told and very moving.

What other book might you compare Truth in Advertising to and why?

I'd just listened to The Good House by Ann Leary and had a similar reaction to that book.

What about Robert Petkoff’s performance did you like?

I think he is well suited to play the part of the protagonist, Finbar Dolan.

Who was the most memorable character of Truth in Advertising and why?

Finbar Dolan and his metamorphosis.

A Different Kind of Story

When it comes to fiction, I am a Mystery/Thriller reader so Truth in Advertising is a totally different type of story for me to choose. I can understand why some think the story is slow and the plot thin. That would be true if I were listening to it from my usual corner where action is expected non-stop.

This is not that type of book and if you're looking for action, this is probably not the book for you. Truth in Advertising is more of an experience rather than a story with a plot. This book dives into an individual's life experience... who he is, what he does and why he is the way he is. It's a book that actually made me laugh, actually made me uncomfortable a time or two and actually made me think.

Robert Petkoff is outstanding. He brings life to the characters and to the story. I've listened to his work several times (Michael Palmer & Michael Koryta books) and he is fast becoming one of my favorite narrators.

I enjoyed Truth in Advertising. It seems to drag a bit here and there but for the type of story it is, it holds its own. I don't have a lot to compare it to because it is so far outside of my normal listen but I can say that I would recommend it to my friends and will be looking forward to more work from John Kenney.

Funny & Enjoyable!

Even though this was a wickedly funny book, it really hits home in a few places about how things that happen when you're growing up come back to affect you through out your life. I really enjoyed the story & all the characters.

Product of your upbringing

This novel seems to have two distinct threads. The first is about Fin Dolan, 39, an advertising copywriter working in a New York advertising agency. He has recently broken off his engagement and is working on a bio-degradable diaper commercial scheduled to air during the superbowl. While there are plenty of stories in the first half of the novel about different brands, scenes and experiences of working at an agency, Geery is great at spinning these scenarios though humour and sarcasm.

As we enter the second half of the novel we get more into the family dynamics and what makes Fin the person he is. For me this is the meat and potatoes of the book. We meet his siblings and his parents. His estranged abusive father is dying and he struggles with the guilt of doing the right thing.

He also struggles with information he’s suppressed about his mother and old memories are rekindled. I’m really glad I stuck it out, because while the first half was rather shallow and cute, the second half gave me what I was looking for – a connection to Fin. One of my favorite people in the book is Keita, a wealthy Japanese client who has issues with his own father and takes a liking to Fin. The two of them commiserate to make sense of who they are.

The book is funny, but it really hits home that you are a product of your upbringing. People are who they are for a reason. Robert Petkoff did a great job. Had it not been for his engaging narration, I'm pretty sure I would not have finished this book.

Midlife Crises (plural)

Obviously from my ratings, I loved this story. The narrator was brilliant and the story was great! Fin is a fun character and a guy with whom I could knock back a few. His hangups are a bit much, but realistic, as people don't ever just "get over" tragedies in their lives, especially when they happen at a very young age.

Even Fin's attitude toward his job (at least he has one) is realistic. This is a great story for anyone who just wants a fun, light read/listen.

Art imitates life imitates art

What an interesting read. It goes by pretty quick and the action is spare but important. The story is about an ad guy who, strangely enough, focuses more on how he'd like his life to look than actually taking part in it. The narrative is largely made up of the rapid fire internal thoughts of the main character - similar to your own stream-of-consciousness, but far easier to follow than you'd think in a book. The vast details he gives about the daily functioning of the ad business can take you from engaged to glazed over, but then your are hit with an emotional bit of backstory or a current tense situation and you stick with it. I liked the parallel between the main character's facade and the one that the ad industry provides to the public. This is the writer's debut novel and he's done a good job developing his antihero through the course of the story.

Engaging depth behind the send-up

At the outset this seemed a glib send-up of big time advertising (a rather easy target for satire and ridicule). It centered on one particular flack, a funny but shallow man drifting through life, hiding behind one-liners. Initially it was hard to care about the protagonist and my attention wavered. Then a moving, dramatic back story slowly but steadily came to life and made the listen well worthwhile and quite engaging. The quality of the audiobook is greatly boosted by the excellent, versatile narration of Robert Petkoff. One mild complaint is the at times lengthy and somewhat tedious spells of introspection by the main character Finbar, mulling over the same doubts and fears and mental roadblocks. All in all a fine tale and excellent audiobook.

Badvertising

A rather ho-hum modern novel: sexy hero always knows the right thing to say, but is emotionally damaged and trying to become a better man blah blah blah. Check this one out for the advertising industry setting, which is painfully hilarious. As a fellow communications professional, we all suspect the work we do is a farce, but we take comfort in thinking, "At least we're not like those advertising pricks." This is a novel about those advertising pricks.