Margaret Broucek's debut novel, The Futility Experts , is a wickedly funny examination of how not to age gracefully. Feeling trapped in a stagnant marriage, working a dead-end job, and desperately coveting the last good parking spot, Tim Turner decides to do what any middle-aged man not in his right mind would do; reinvent himself online as a 21-year-old marine . At the same time, Davis Beardsley, a professor of zoology obsessed with imaginary creatures, watches his chances for tenure circle the drain when a new department head takes a dim view of his teaching methods. Delivered with deadpan wit and keen insight, not to mention a decrepit Sasquatch, a Romanian adoptee hell-bent on destruction, and a trio of incontinent lapdogs, The Futility Experts will appeal to fans of Jami Attenberg, Gary Schteyngart, and anyone who likes their comedy with a little chaos.