Fin Dolan is 37 and works as a copywriter for a prominent ad agency in New York City. He didn't set out to work in advertising, but falling into things seems to be his way.
Fin introduces the reader to his work colleagues‒several of whom are quite entertaining‒and puts us into the crazy world of advertising and the seriousness of selling Fritos or insurance or diapers.
It's just before Christmas and a petroleum company has invented a diaper that's supposedly biodegradable. They want to produce an ad for the Super Bowl, which squeezes a process that normally takes months into just a few weeks. Fin and some of his colleagues have to give up their holiday vacation time to work on the ad.
Meanwhile, Fin hears from his oldest brother that their father is close to death in a hospital in Boston. None of Fin's siblings will go to visit their father: he had been horrible to live with, and left 25 years ago. Fin is torn about how to deal with the situation. He's still dealing with the death of his mother, who died not long after his father left. Fin has repressed a lot of emotion, and he has a lot of self-dialogue going on as a result.
This all sounds heavy‒and it is‒but the novel is interspersed with the humor and irony that won it the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Highly recommended.
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