Book Review: Network Apprentice

Reviewed by Chelsey Tucker

Network Apprentice deftly balances the absurd nature of politics with the human need for nature and our desire for untainted truth.

 Julie Anders is an apprentice at the new network MRABC. She provides data research for the network shows including the Dan Panders’ Show. Dan Panders is the hottest new host in talk television and with Julie’s numbers-driven research, they try to expose misleading media coverage and Congressional coverups. The overlords within the network are extremely “ratings-driven and rabidly-biased” which sparks drama when Julie and Dan don’t pander to their political ideology and focus on the truth that the numbers reveal.

The key to Julie’s strength in the face of despair stems from her bond with her father. Their bond has been deep since she was in high school and they shared a run-in with an old grizzly bear named Lop Ear. After Lop Ear ate all their food while in the backcountry of Yellowstone, Julie and her father survived off trout they caught and the only surviving food item: peanut butter. They were rescued by the Ranger and a father-son duo, Mark and Jason-Jerrold Jennings.

Years later, shortly after graduating with a Master’s degree from Colorado University, Julie runs into Jason-Jerrold outside a Patagonia store, the spark to their new romance. Just as their relationship began, JJ’s work brought him to Chile for 3 months. During this time, Julie threw herself into her work at the only network that offered her a job after graduation. Network Apprentice continues to follow Julie as she navigates her personal and professional life, both stained with death and disagreements. Julie must continue pursuing a fulfilled career defined by integrity and focused on the numbers.

Hubbard utilizes Julie as a lens to examine the chaos within American politics and media coverage within the last couple of decades. The satirical nature of this novel oozes out through her questions: “Is politics even a profession? Or has it evolved to just a playground for power-seekers?”

Due to the nature of Julie’s position, the novel sometimes becomes overly saturated with information and makes it feel dense. However, there is a level of self-awareness in the character’s ability to pontificate and cause these moments of information overload. “Beware the pontifications. You’ll be accused of parroting the style of those you criticize.”

This novel is beyond relevant. Anyone interested in political science or the nature of talk television will gain much from Network Apprentice, an engaging, statistical-driven exploration and critique of modern network news and the contemporary issues they choose to cover or not to cover. This fictionalized account of broadcast journalism smartly highlights the misrepresented and untold truths within American media and the need to pander to a network’s political ideology instead of providing unbiased statistical facts and drawing logical rational conclusions instead of fear-mongering.

---

Thank you for reading Chelsey Tucker’s book review of Network Apprentice by Graydon “Dee” Hubbard! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.