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The Futurist Audiobook
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(3.00) - 342 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Yates is a Futurist. Which is to say he makes a very good living flying around the world dispensing premonitory wisdom, aka prepackaged bull, to world governments, corporations, and global leadership conferences. He is an optimist by trade and a cynic by choice. He's the kind of man who can give a lecture on successive days to a leading pesticide manufacturer and the Organic Farmers of America, and receive standing ovations at both.
But just as the American Empire is beginning to fray around the edges, so too is Yates's carefully scripted existence. On the way to the Futureworld Conference in Johannesburg, he opens a handwritten note from his girlfriend, saying she's left him for a sixth-grade history teacher. Then he witnesses a soccer riot in which a number of South Africans are killed, to the chagrin of the South African PR people at Futureworld. Sparked by a heroic devastation of his minibar and inspired by the rookie hooker sent to his hotel room courtesy of his hosts, Yates delivers a spectacularly career-ending speech at Futureworld, which leads to a sound beating, a meeting with some quasi-governmental creeps, and a hazy mission to go around the world answering the question: Why does everyone hate us?
Thus begins an absolutely original novel that is fueled by equal parts subversive satire, genuine physical fear, and heartfelt moral anguish. From the hideously ugly Greenlander nymphomaniacal artist to the gay male model spy to the British corporate magnate with a taste for South Pacific virgin sacrifice rituals, The Futurist manages to be wildly entertaining and deadly serious at the same time.
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"The Futurist isn't about the future, it's a witty and sometimes biting satire on some of the absurdities of our culture today. Othmer is a talented first time writer, and this is a book that manages to pepper it's cynicism with hilarity. It's a fresh, in-your-face, creative novel."
— Dan (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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Acerbically funny, clearly written by a refugee from corporate culture.... Othmer writes with the gimlet-eyed acuity that is the book's best asset.
— The New York Times -
“This spirited dissection of the contemporary cultural and political zeitgeist is a stylish winner in its own intelligently weird right.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The Futurist Listener Reviews
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" Wow. I really liked it! "
— Melissa, 2/16/2014 -
" Read on a plane, nothing great but it kept me entertained. "
— Tom, 1/20/2014 -
" Can't recall who recommended this one, but thank you!! Thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, just the right mix of cynicism and honesty. "
— Megan, 1/18/2014 -
" I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Great characters and a story telling style that reminded me of a mixture of Vonnegut and Robbins. Funny and fast paced. "
— dragynlady, 1/1/2014 -
" Turned out to be a big whatever... "
— Joel, 12/7/2013 -
" The main character is a "futurist," who speaks to various leaders and organizations and essentially tells them what they want to hear, until he cracks. Great setup, but I don't feel like it went anywhere and I have no clue what the purpose of the book was to begin with. Kind of a shame. "
— Jeff, 11/25/2013 -
" Amusing at times, but a little too self-aware and sarcastically hip to be a truly satisfying read. "
— Andy, 11/21/2013 -
" I liked the idea of this book (a cynical futurist) better than the implementation... I would have preferred him stay cynical and funny rather than getting to the learning-a-lesson part. This book started out fairly interesting and amusing, but then kind of petered out for me. "
— Katie, 11/17/2013 -
" Interesting. Ending was a failure, though. "
— Kevin, 11/15/2013 -
" Almost excellent, I enjoyed the plot and the concept but something got lost on the way. "
— Philip, 8/29/2013 -
" made me want to go to Greenland "
— Paula, 7/30/2013 -
" I laughed a couple times when reading this and that makes it better than "Then We Came To the End". Three stars feels like 1/2 star too many but I'm doing it anyways, just so it gets more than the aforementioned. "
— Elliot, 1/26/2013 -
" "I read it in Swedish. I wasn't particularly enthralled, I didn't sympathize with any of the characters, and nothing really surprised me." "
— Vivi, 12/17/2012 -
" I'm giving it three stars for the book, and one extra star because I'm very proud of Jim! Haven't seen him in years, but no doubt he's still the same great person I knew back when. "
— goodevil, 10/30/2012 -
" It was nothing like what I expected. Not that that is a bad thing. I gave it a worth try, but decided to give up on it. "
— Heather, 7/6/2012 -
" Excellent, short, well written, a fast read that does a great job of filling out the modern day American man and delving into his struggles. He never loses his idealistic slant, even when things get tough. I enjoyed it a lot and highly recommend it. "
— Kirk, 7/4/2012 -
" This book was OK. Honestly, it didn't do anything for me. I didn't care about the characters or anything else. I kept waiting for some big mystery to unfold, and nothing ever did. I did like reading about the various places the characters traveled. It made me want to get out see more of the world. "
— Michael, 5/12/2012 -
" Smart, funny, fast-paced and oddly poignant, this novel is well worth the read. Of Othmer, I am officially a fan. "
— Mary, 5/1/2012 -
" This book is lame. The title sounds interesting but the main character is unlikeable and uninteresting and the pointless story is one nobody needs to hear. Thanks to this author, I will never again read something written by anybody in the advertising industry. "
— Manaudou, 3/10/2012 -
" Thanks Dan for the recommedation. Interesting read. I especially love the opening paragraphs to every chapter. "
— Emily, 12/23/2011 -
" Dystopian novel of the present, about the future and the "coiner of the phrase," which we never learn. Pretty engaging but not great. "
— Gina, 6/22/2011 -
" i really dug this book. i was consciously trying to figure out why as i was reading it, and i think it simply comes down to the main character, yates. i loved his character. following him, his thought process, his travels, his decision making, that's what did if for me. "
— Jared, 6/7/2011 -
" Ultimately a dissapointment. The premise had great potential. "
— William, 5/31/2011 -
" The futurist gives us a cynical protagonist finding redemption - while our formerly amoral protagonist has some wit and charm, the whole leaves something to be desired. Reminds me of bad coupland. "
— Tim, 5/6/2011 -
" It was nothing like what I expected. Not that that is a bad thing. I gave it a worth try, but decided to give up on it. "
— Heather, 1/14/2011 -
" A somewhat strange book that gives and interesting insight into how our world works.<br/>It make you think. "
— Martin, 11/15/2010 -
" Thanks Dan for the recommedation. Interesting read. I especially love the opening paragraphs to every chapter. "
— Emily, 10/28/2010 -
" <em>The Futurist</em> isn't aout the future, it's a witty and sometimes biting satire on some of the absurdities of our culture today. Othmer is a talented first time writer, and this is a book that manages to pepper it's cynicism with hilarity. "
— Dan, 10/20/2010 -
" Smart, funny, fast-paced and oddly poignant, this novel is well worth the read. Of Othmer, I am officially a fan. "
— Mary, 7/12/2010 -
" The main character is a "futurist," who speaks to various leaders and organizations and essentially tells them what they want to hear, until he cracks. Great setup, but I don't feel like it went anywhere and I have no clue what the purpose of the book was to begin with. Kind of a shame. "
— Jeff, 7/9/2010 -
" Can't recall who recommended this one, but thank you!! Thoroughly enjoyed reading the book, just the right mix of cynicism and honesty. "
— Megan, 2/6/2010 -
" Motivational speaker takes on mysterious client and confusion reigns. "
— Kather21, 12/14/2009 -
" A self-aware, self-parody of trendy thinkers and insight people by a creative director in ad agency. It's every bit as maddening and ironically self-important as I expected, but it's pretty damn funny and the guy can build up a good head of steam. If you're in the biz, definitely read it. "
— Kip, 11/20/2009 -
" Interesting. Ending was a failure, though. "
— Kevin, 8/24/2009 -
" I liked the idea of this book (a cynical futurist) better than the implementation... I would have preferred him stay cynical and funny rather than getting to the learning-a-lesson part. This book started out fairly interesting and amusing, but then kind of petered out for me. "
— Katie, 6/15/2009 -
" i really dug this book. i was consciously trying to figure out why as i was reading it, and i think it simply comes down to the main character, yates. i loved his character. following him, his thought process, his travels, his decision making, that's what did if for me. "
— Jared, 3/21/2009
About James P. Othmer
James P. Othmer is the author of Adland: Searching for the Meaning of Life on a Branded Planet and the novel The Futurist, which was expanded from a short story published in the Virginia Quarterly that was a finalist for the National Magazine Award in Fiction. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and children.
About William Dufris
William Dufris attended the University of Southern Maine in Portland-Gorham before pursuing a career in voice work in London and then the United States. He has won more than twenty AudioFile Earphones Awards, was voted one of the Best Voices at the End of the Century by AudioFile magazine, and won the prestigious Audie Award in 2012 for best nonfiction narration. He lives with his family in Maine.