Travels of an Adman

Travels of an Adman is a lively tale set in the 1960s, with echoes of the popular TV series Madmen. It follows the adventures of Malcolm Harwood a student at the University of Birmingham in England. His outrageous advertising for the university English Society brings him before the Dean of the department – and not to praise him! Determined to become a professional advertising man, Malcolm finds it a difficult path to embark on. But after first getting a job in computers, he eventually finds success by joining an advertising agency in London. Meanwhile, he has won the heart of Gwyneth, a beautiful trainee nurse. But through his own indiscretions, he loses her forever. Almost as compensation for his misdeeds, he is hired by a top American ad agency and finds a new, exciting life in Chicago, where his career soars. But acclaim in the ad world hardly makes up for losing the woman he loves and left behind in England. Sadly, she appears to be lost forever!

Set in the 1960s, Travels of an Advertising Man follows the adventures of Malcolm Harwood as he graduates from Birmingham University in the UK. His twin journeys intertwine; he makes a slow but determined pilgrimage to enter the world of advertising while at the same time pursues Gwyneth, meeting many problems of his own making along the way. His efforts to enter the world of advertising grow as his relationship blossoms with the beautiful Gwyneth, a nurse trainee, At first, he finds it difficult to find a job of any kind and settles for one in computers. But his heart is set on advertising, as well as on winning the beautiful Gwyneth. Here, too, success eludes him – largely through his own missteps and indiscretions. When he finally succeeds in getting into advertising in London, his talent emerges, earning him ultimately the offer of a dream job at a major Chicago advertising agency. But while he finds solace in several romantic dalliances along the way, success with the woman he truly loves continues to elude him. Will advertising be his only triumph, while Gwyneth remains forever lost to him? Travels of an Advertising Man is a love story, although it may not appear so to begin with; and it is set in the highly-charged atmosphere successfully evoked in the popular TV series, Mad Men. Malcolm's advertising travels take him, among other places, to Germany where he tests out an anti-lock braking system on an automotive test track with hair-raising results; and to Paris where he records radio commercials with an Orson Welles suffering from a terrible cold. The story occasionally makes side references to real events happening in that era, resulting in a delightfully readable story. 

Geoffrey Charlton-Perrin was born in England, but he has worked in advertising agencies in London, New York, Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Chicago. He is the author of a young adult novel entitled 2121: The Battle for Survival Begins; a children's book entitled Little Lord Blink and His Ice Cream Castle, (also translated and published in France) and a short story entitled A Star is Born, describing the trials of making a TV commercial. Geoffrey lives with his wife, Junie, in Northbrook, Illinois.