The Appetite Factory

By: Jon Gingerich

Narrated by: Adam Barr

As head of the crisis management team at a Madison Avenue PR firm, Leonard Lundell spends his days counseling executives whose reputations have been ruined by scandal. But Leonard has been managing a strange and debilitating crisis of his own that’s held him captive his entire adult life: Leonard likes to eat soap, pencils, paint chips—anything with no nutritional value.

For years, he’s kept his compulsion hidden behind a professional veneer. But when he signs an important client, an antisocial file clerk unwittingly discovers Leonard’s secret and blackmails him into accommodating her own bizarre culinary indulgences.

A picaresque set against the backdrop of Madison Avenue’s marketing machine in the months leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, The Appetite Factory examines the earliest days of our post-truth era, where a scandal-obsessed news cycle and social media’s rise as an information platform have given birth to a culture addicted to recreational outrage and hell-bent on finding the next public figure to disgrace to keep ourselves entertained.

©2022 Jon Gingerich (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

Worth your time!

Appetite Factory has vivid imagery that really appealed to my senses, even when it was intentionally gross. Some moments were revolting, but effective and tied to the story. I love it when reading causes a physical reaction.

I didn’t connect with the characters at first, but by the end I found myself caring about them, which surprised me in a good way. This is one of those books that sticks with you after you finish it, and I know I’ll be thinking about it for a while.

A modern masterpiece

The Appetite Factory is a return the “Great American Novel” for a generation that has been sold hopes and dreams since infancy, only to arrive into adulthood being offered the banal, corporate capitalist dreams of a society hollow of purpose.

Stick with it!

I almost quit listening after the first 40 minutes but stayed because the writing is excellent. Overtime I realize that it is a fabulous and timely social commentary. This book is also refreshing and excellently narrated.

Wow

Stunning debut novel that is a modern must-read. This book will leave you wanting more from Jon. Excellent.