Selling The Dream

by Hugh Mackay

Lincoln The Hunter is living the dream. Universally admired and terrifically charming, he has a formidable reputation in the world of marketing and advertising, and is the jewel in the crown of agency KK&C.

When Linc is handed the reins of the high-budget, high-profile campaign for The Ripper, a ground-breaking new snack that no-one with functioning tastebuds would voluntarily eat, he knows it's his chance to leverage his way to greater success and greener, more glamourous pastures. No matter that it will leave KK&C foundering in his wake...

Ruthless in his pursuit of professional success, it doesn't occur to Linc that he himself might be the pawn in this great game of advertising, where no method - be it a calculated office affair or 'disruptive skydiving' - is off limits to aid in selling the dream.

In this laugh-out-loud funny and frighteningly believable satire, Hugh Mackay lays bare the machinations of this multi-million-dollar industry, and leaves you wondering just where the line between parody and reality falls...

Genres: Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2017

About the author

Hugh Mackay is a social researcher and novelist who has made a lifelong study of the attitudes and behaviour of Australians. He is the author of twelve books, including five bestsellers. The second edition of his latest non-fiction book, Advance Australia…Where? was published in September 2008, and his fifth novel, Ways of Escape was published in May 2009.

He is a fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and received the University of Sydney’s 2004 Alumni Award for community service. In recognition of his pioneering work in social research, Hugh has been awarded honorary doctorates by Charles Sturt, Macquarie and NSW universities.

He is a former deputy chairman of the Australia Council, a former chairman of trustees of Sydney Grammar School, and was the inaugural chairman of the ACT government’s Community Inclusion Board. He was a newspaper columnist for almost 30 years and now writes occasionally for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The West Australian. He is a frequent guest on ABC radio.

- Biography from Hugh Mackay's website

Reviews

[Chester Hart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was entertaining and had some great double plays of people out to get each other, some very believable ambitious sales types. It also built to a nice crescendo with an alright finish. The big slabs of backstory let it down though. They would come out of nowhere and go on for a long time. Sometimes they didn't add to the story at all, making the character's less believable. Then the Epilogue introduced a completely new character.

Overall a decent light read.

[Loki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A satire of the advertising industry, Selling The Dream uses a single boutique ad agency from Sydney as the prism through which it examines that industry. But while it is funny, the satire is not particularly biting, because we've heard almost all these jokes before. Still, if you're a fan of Gruen, you'll probably enjoy this. I did, except for the 30 pages of overlong and underfunny epilogue, which is completely unnecessary and squanders most of the laughs and all of the narrative momentum the preceding 198 pages have so carefully created.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy read about corporate machinations and politics in an advertising agency that was nothing remarkable, but still enjoyable. I note that some people have been harsh in their reviews, however working in the advertising industry, I understood a lot of the language and situations and found it had a lot of truths. This was a simple satire, but it entertained me throughout - and that's all you want in a book sometimes.
I think if you've worked in, or been close to, the advertising industry, you'd appreciate it a lot more than if you came into it cold.

[Sarah Neofield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hugh Mackay's Selling The Dream is smart, funny, and insightful. I picked up the book, ignorant of the fact that the author is one and the same as the scholar whose works on psychology I have also read, but his background in social research shines through in this cutting satire.
While it has clearly divided opinion, the epilogue was for me my favourite part of the book.
If you have ever been frustrated by falsity, corporate babble, marketing, or humanity in general, read this book.

[Hayden · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed how each chapter focused on a different character to give the book more depth and the non-stop game-playing of all the key players.

But it lacked any real depth and the finish was under-done. A lot of loose ends left unexplained meant it never felt finished.

I found parts entertaining but as a whole - not a great read.

[Miss · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is an abundance of fodder for comedy and satire in the advertising industry, but this was a disappointingly one-dimensional sitcom romp in need of a laughter track to remind the reader of its intent.

[Shane · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise for the book was excellent, but the story didn't deliver. Spent a lot of time building something that was layered and woven together well and then the ending was very underwhelming. The epilogue was even more disappointing. What a shame.

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clever, funny, light-weight; pedestrian writing, and a tendency to over-explain let it down. The ending was quite unsatisfying because it related so little to the rest, and was over-long and complex for a "what did they do after the end" epilogue.

[Olwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow, the blokey Australian narrative gave me the clue this story was written by an Australian bloke.

[David Hoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entertaining, light piece of fiction (or is it?) and an interesting insight into the psyche of corporate organisations, lust for power, boardroom politics and executive ego.

[Ralph Tattersall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Humorous light read about the bulls**t of the advertising industry. Abrupt and unsatisfactory end though and with s strange tacked-on epilogue. Didn't work for me. Sub 3

[Ita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read and amusing at times but that was all there was to this book.

[Pip Snort · Rating 3 out of 5]

I blew through this book in several 10 bursts. It was a relatively unsubtle examination of the delusion of marketing and greed, but with a little wit and some chutzpah.

[Susy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy albeit superficial read. It’s a satirical look at the advertising industry that ultimately falls short of its potential. Not the best example of Hugh Mackay’s writing.

[Lottie C · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75⭐️

God this was awful