Gielgud (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781955593137)

Don Geary, a single father and freelance graphic designer, struggles to make ends meet as he works the margins of the churning creative economy in Portland, Oregon, during the Obama administration. Talented but solitary, sensitive but critical, Geary tries to make it through a season in which he monitors the rise of social media and local "thought leaders" from an increasingly desperate position.

When two venture capitalists hire him to be their "Gielgud"-a sober-minded employee they can trust to translate their flights of capital-fueled whimsy into a refined, market-ready product-it seems his career and financial troubles may be over. As he realizes the opportunity might not be what it seems, though, he also finds it increasingly difficult to ignore the messages that appear on his phone from a woman who may be a chance for something more substantial. In scenes of humor, anxiety, tenderness, and desire, Gielgud chronicles men and women who, in a world suddenly flooded with streaming video and nonstop commentary, quietly struggle through personal crises almost entirely unobserved.