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JACKIE DISASTER
by Eric Dezenhall
Thomas Dunne Books, June 2003
354 pages
$24.95
ISBN: 0312307691


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Early on, I was worrying that I ought to recommend this book only to people in the Philadelphia area. Would anyone else enjoy the pun of an overpriced sandwich called the Annen-Burger? Do people in Kansas City remember Abscam? Later I was thinking I ought to recommend it only to people who've never set foot in Philly. People in Phoenix wouldn't wince at the "Willie Penn's hat" that as Billy Penn's hat is a landmark, know that he confused "Northeast Philly" with "North Philly," or wonder at the constant references to the Bulletin, a newspaper that went out of business decades ago.

Jackie Disaster is a great idea for a book. The author, Eric Dezenhall, is a real-life public relations consultant who's written about an ex-boxer and ex-Atlantic City Police PR director, Jackie De Sesto, who's now a corporate consultant called in to handle impending PR disasters. A previous related book (Money Wanders) featured Jonah Eastman, who reappears here as a focus group facilitator who helps Jackie try to figure out why a woman's accusations against Sally Naturale (a pale imitation of Martha Stewart who sells overpriced stuff to strivers) are resonating with the public and threatening her stock prices.

Jackie's got a giant bag of tricks and a merry staff of tricksters at Allegation Sciences that he utilizes to investigate claims that Sally's soy milk caused a miscarriage. The ways he checks into Sally's background, Murrin the accuser's background, soy milk production, public opinion about anything related to genetic engineering, and the formal and informal opinion media are instructive. However, Dezenhall lacks self-restraint as a writer. Amusing tricks become pointless charades, and the gang is way too quick to resort to torture and thuggery to maintain this reader's sympathy and indulgence. Attractive characters like Jackie's orphaned niece disappear out of the story, to be replaced by an endless streams ever sillier Mafia types played for laughs; before he quite explains how chat rooms are supposed to affect public opinion, his research degenerates into dressing up as an elderly lady dental patient or a priest to extort information.

Overall, this book's got a great premise and too much silliness and brutality in its execution.

Reviewed by Joy Matkowski, August 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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