Pacific Book Review – O’Brien, Lipschitz, and Partners: A Satire

John Nieman’s O’Brien, Lipschitz, and Partners: A Satire gives readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the elusive and mysterious world of advertising. While most of America watches those famous Super Bowl commercials, does anyone outside of the advertising business really understand how those creative moments come about? This book shows readers how those wacky and wild commercials and ads are created with an off-the-cuff plot that’s probably not too far off the mark.

This fictional story revolves around two ad executives, Shelly and Jack. At the beginning of the narrative, Shelly is working for a conservative ad agency and is tasked with creating a new campaign for Serta Mattresses. While the company is large and successful, she feels the creative department isn’t up to the challenge and worries about a new ad agency which is pitching to the same client.

Shelly was right to be worried because Jack’s agency wins the campaign by featuring “porn star” Stormy Daniels and a new S-E-X Serta campaign. Shelly decides her only course for survival in the tough market is to join forces with  Jack and the two start a new ad agency together. The team’s first task involves a rebranding campaign for Hooter’s restaurant, which wins awards and accolades. After that, the team is a clear winner in the ad race. They then go on to create award-winning ads for Fiat and Anusol and are soon billed as “the weirdest, most outrageous and creative agency in the business” and are soon attracting attention nationwide. This makes all of Shelly’s and Jack’s dreams come true…or does it? While the team does have a meteoric rise to the top, the journey isn’t without pitfalls and failures. However, even those are tongue in cheek and the reader knows the dynamic ad duo will come out on top.

Nieman’s O’Brien, Lipschitz, and Partners: A Satire is a fun and engaging read. Nieman is a writer who once worked as a worldwide creative director in advertising agency and his words ring true. While the story was written as a satire and much of it is clearly over the top in terms of plot events, it is authentic enough to give readers a good idea of how crazy that lifestyle must be. It’s a fun read with just enough modern cultural references thrown in to keep the writing relevant as many of the exploits will have readers laughing out loud. As Nieman writes in the book, it’s “the truth…with a twist.”

Title: O’Brien, Lipschitz, and Partners: A Satire
Author: John Nieman
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1-9845-3065-3
Pages: 114
Genre: Fiction/Satire
Reviewed by: CC Thomas