The Futurist by James P. Othmer Reviewed by Ron Charles
Washington Post Book World
"I have seen your future. Or at least a small part of your summer. You're reading a debut novel by James P. Othmer, and you're laughing, and then you're feeling deeply unsettled about the state of the world. As predictions go, that's an easy one. (Still waiting for flying cars, meals in a pill, being greeted as liberators.) Othmer was an executive with Young & Rubicam, a mammoth marketing communications company that operates behind the scenes in 81 countries and describes itself as 'a single, borderless, boundaryless agency.' That sounds something like working for Doctor No, but the experience has clearly informed this funny, thoughtful satire of corporate life, mass media and political manipulation. If Othmer is spilling this many insider secrets, the Powers That Be must want him to ? or he's a dead man." Read the entire Washington Post Book World review.