Summer reading, courtesy of ex-Y&R ecd

Speaking of books by ex-ad people, Jim Othmer, former executive creative director at Young & Rubicam in New York, has a new novel out called The Futurist. I haven’t read it, but Heidi Julavits says it’s decent! (She also thinks Jim is “eye-poppingly talented.”) Actually, it’s getting good reviews generally (aside from LA Weekly’s opinion that Othmer “just seems like an asshole”). Written by an ex-Y&R guy, the book naturally is a dark comedy. It follows the adventures of a futurist (aka bullshit artist) in a world gone pear-shaped; the Web site says the story is “equal parts subversive satire, genuine physical fear, and heartfelt moral anguish.”