Plausible Deniability

A humorous, heartfelt novel about a man trying to find himself in a world that keeps shifting under his feet. Pete Wendell doesn't feel well. He's traded his past as a hardcharging reporter for the safer, more lucrative world of corporate PR. His wife disapproves, his co-workers don't respect him, and there seems to be something wrong with his balance. Moving back to his old hometown to begin his family, Pete is surrounded by his past: his wealthy, demanding father, his sad, alcoholic mother, a high school friend who berates him for his excessive drinking. Through it all, Pete tries to be a better man, with middling results. It's not until a scandal erupts over his company's dubious practices that Pete must finally decide to be the hero of his own story, if it's not too late.

Review :
When did corporate greed reach the point where any story could be faked, as long as the corporation had "plausible deniability" in case things went wrong? When did some journalists become corporate shills? When did truth become "truthiness" and facts acquire alternatives? In Robert Gilbert's wordly, witty and wise debut novel, these things are happening in the 1990's; caught up in the middle of it all is Wall Street Bulletin reporter Pete Wendell, a man with denial issues of his own. Pete is running from his own skewed vision of his perfect upper-crust Connecticut childhood; his grief over a terrible loss; his selling-out of his journalistic ideals; and, most of all, his out-of-control drinking. Pete is a classic anti-hero, human and flawed, a guy who keeps trying to do the right thing, keeps getting screwed, and keeps on keeping on anyway. Gilbert's own background as a journalist shows here, in his sharp, precise and graceful prose. He's a fine writer and Plausible Deniability is an enlightening and entertaining novel. That's undeniable. --Hollis Seamon is the author of Somebody Up There Hates You and Corporeality I've seen flacks up close and personal (including my Dad, wife and a sister). I've seen big-time journalism, too--my Dad, a brother and I totaled more than half a century at The Wall Street Journal. So, I can assure you that Robert Gilbert nails the nuances of both while exploring the sorts of tensions and offbeat characters that pop up in those intertwined worlds. (Not that I ever personally saw anyone use alcohol as a crutch, of course.) --Paul Carroll is a Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of Big Blues Simply put, you are there. Robert Gilbert's intimate, evocative storytelling of corporate malfeasance and human frailty pulls you in to a point that it's almost impossible to not feel like you're in the room. It's a story both unfamiliar and all too familiar, of good people finding themselves in situations that expose their vulnerabilities and challenge their moral fortitude. There is a gentle, compelling honesty to his prose and to the inner truth of his struggling hero Pete Wendell, a person and persona that we all have something in common with. --Chris Colbert is the former Managing Director, Harvard Business School Innovation Labs and author of This Is It