davidngillespie's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
smrankin5's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book completely out of order. I really liked the story, I just felt it was hidden behind a bunch of superfluous clutter.
blevins's review against another edition
2.0
Wow I didn't like this book by John Kenney and evidently others do quite a bit..I'm baffled. I enjoy some satire, in fact, I kind of like it, but Truth in Advertising was a huge swing and miss for me. The satire of the advertising world is so utterly forced, heavy-handed and dare I say phony [even though Kenney used to work in this world] that I never believed that these people trading endless barbs and one-liners to one another were anything other than complete fabrications. The key word in that sentence is "endless." I was exhausted by the end of the book by the amount of snappy one-liners that EVERY character had to say to each other on EVERY single page. There sure are a lot of witty people in advertising I guess. The book wallows in a hollow, superficial quality that began to grate on my nerves early and never let up. The protagonist, Fin, is truly one of the most irritating people I've spent 300 pages with in a long long time. No amount of snappy dialogue is going to change my mind on that. In fact, the whole book is just irritating to the core. But, it's getting a lot of hype and positive word of mouth. As I said earlier, I'm baffled.
cook_memorial_public_library's review against another edition
5.0
A 2013 staff fiction favorite recommended by Connie and Jo
Connie's review: It's not often that I purposely put off finishing a book because I don't want it to end. In Truth in Advertising, it was just sheer appreciation of the writing, the humor, and the loveable characters. I loved it.
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Struth%20in%20advertising%20kenney__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
Connie's review: It's not often that I purposely put off finishing a book because I don't want it to end. In Truth in Advertising, it was just sheer appreciation of the writing, the humor, and the loveable characters. I loved it.
Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Struth%20in%20advertising%20kenney__Orightresult__U1?lang=eng&suite=pearl
lola425's review against another edition
4.0
Characters were believeable, the characterization of the advertising agency was spot-on, and it was laugh out loud funny. The media has made us think very specific things when we hear the words mid-life crisis: men trying to be young again, latching on to younger women, buying fancy cars, anything to deny the inevitable. I think Kenney managed to redefine the term mid-life crisis for me in the character of Fin Dolan. Here is someone who has managed his life well-enough that he is materially settled, but emotionally and intellectually stunted. Yet he manages to work his way through his existential crisis without resorting to cliches. He pulls himself out of a tailspin not by becoming who he is not, but by becoming who he really is (which in itself sounds like a cliche). Maybe I mean that he doesn't try to recapture the past, but tries to understand it, in order to move forward.
marilynmalloy's review against another edition
2.0
I have received this book for free in exchange for an honest review
This in no way affects my opinion
I received this book from Simon & Schuster Canada.
I will admit, I had a very hard time with the beginning of this book. And it was my stubbornness that kept me reading - not the storyline. It took about 60% of the book for me to be invested enough to keep going, and by 70%, I was actually reading for the storyline. Now that I am done, yes, I am glad I finished it. It was a "good" story, and did have some lessons and interesting parts. I just couldn't stand Finbar Dolan. He drove me mad.
In everyones lives it would seem they have one self-centered, egotisical individual. This is Finbar Dolan. In real life I would not give this character five minutes of my time, which is why actually reading this book (from his perspective no less) made me question my sanity. Woe is me.
That said, you actually (at the end) begin to see why Fin is the way he is. His mother's death when he was 12 years old has affected him profoundly. In a way that can only truely be understood by reading the entire book. That said, because of the way it was laid out, I felt that the author was purposely hiding facts from the reader to MAKE the reader continue reading. This I did not like.
Fin has had a lot of negatives in his life, his mothers death, his father leaving, his siblings moving away and seperating, his fiance and him breaking up weeks before the wedding. So much, that you begin to understand why he goes about life the way he does. (Yet the optimist/realitist in me wants to shake him, and tell him to stop looking at it as half empty!)
Does this book have a climax. In the most basic form, yes, I guess it does. But in the form that most readers are looking for today? It falls a little flat. There where a couple times in the last 20 pages of the book, I though (as reading), that that would of been a good place to STOP. Yes, there are deffinate points in continuing, but at the same time, other points would of been just as satisfying, and left the reader with questions (sometimes which can be good).
Did I enjoy this book? Kind of.
Will I rush to buy other works from this author? Definately not.
Where there things in this book I will probably think on later? Yes. (WWII buff, so most definately!)
Am I glad I read this? Yes, I'm glad I finished.
Would I of picked this up in a bookstore? No.
After reading, is my opinion changed on that last question? No.
But. Read it. You will likely learn something...and while it's not the entertainment of the modern age, education, and a "calm" read can be good for our overly scheduled lives!
This in no way affects my opinion
I received this book from Simon & Schuster Canada.
I will admit, I had a very hard time with the beginning of this book. And it was my stubbornness that kept me reading - not the storyline. It took about 60% of the book for me to be invested enough to keep going, and by 70%, I was actually reading for the storyline. Now that I am done, yes, I am glad I finished it. It was a "good" story, and did have some lessons and interesting parts. I just couldn't stand Finbar Dolan. He drove me mad.
In everyones lives it would seem they have one self-centered, egotisical individual. This is Finbar Dolan. In real life I would not give this character five minutes of my time, which is why actually reading this book (from his perspective no less) made me question my sanity. Woe is me.
That said, you actually (at the end) begin to see why Fin is the way he is. His mother's death when he was 12 years old has affected him profoundly. In a way that can only truely be understood by reading the entire book. That said, because of the way it was laid out, I felt that the author was purposely hiding facts from the reader to MAKE the reader continue reading. This I did not like.
Fin has had a lot of negatives in his life, his mothers death, his father leaving, his siblings moving away and seperating, his fiance and him breaking up weeks before the wedding. So much, that you begin to understand why he goes about life the way he does. (Yet the optimist/realitist in me wants to shake him, and tell him to stop looking at it as half empty!)
Does this book have a climax. In the most basic form, yes, I guess it does. But in the form that most readers are looking for today? It falls a little flat. There where a couple times in the last 20 pages of the book, I though (as reading), that that would of been a good place to STOP. Yes, there are deffinate points in continuing, but at the same time, other points would of been just as satisfying, and left the reader with questions (sometimes which can be good).
Did I enjoy this book? Kind of.
Will I rush to buy other works from this author? Definately not.
Where there things in this book I will probably think on later? Yes. (WWII buff, so most definately!)
Am I glad I read this? Yes, I'm glad I finished.
Would I of picked this up in a bookstore? No.
After reading, is my opinion changed on that last question? No.
But. Read it. You will likely learn something...and while it's not the entertainment of the modern age, education, and a "calm" read can be good for our overly scheduled lives!
jodygerbig's review against another edition
4.0
Having worked as a copywriter in advertising, I can attest to Kenney's observations about his own career: the often vapid obsessions people have with the craft, the countless hours devoted to questionable projects...these are the minutia of existential crisis. The book starts off rather cliche but ends with heartfelt artistry. While an easy read, it is not a thoughtless one.
jeanniner's review against another edition
4.0
Strong voice and great character development. A great window into the world of advertising and into the mind of a "mad man".