Apex Hides the Hurt

The unnamed male protagonist is defined by his career as a nomenclature consultant in New York: “He came up with names” (3). He finds coming up with product names exciting and almost physically taxing: “He bent them to see if they’d break, he dragged them behind cars by heavy metal chains” (3). In the past, the protagonist enjoyed the camaraderie of his office job and relished being an expert in his field. However, he left his job some time ago due to a “misfortune” (5), the nature of which he does not reveal. Now, the protagonist is emotionally closed-off.

In the present, the protagonist’s old boss Roger Tipple calls him to take a freelance assignment. He is watching a black and white silent movie when Tipple calls, which leads him to think about the importance of facial expressions when there are no words spoken. The protagonist takes the job because he has nothing else to do.

He travels to Winthrop, a small town in the Midwest where he will meet his clients. When he arrives, he checks into the old-fashioned and dingy Winthrop Hotel. Waiting at the front desk are a bottle of port from Mayor Goode, a history of the town from Mr. Winthrop, and a faxed letter of welcome from Mr. Aberdeen. The clients will meet him in the hotel bar at six o’clock.

The protagonist walks with a limp due to an injury. He nearly loses his balance when he enters the bar, anxious about being in public because he rarely leaves home. He notes the bar’s décor: old cartoons hung on the walls, leather chairs, and glass tables. Two of his clients arrive. Mayor Regina Goode is an African American woman wearing a classy pants suit and expensive perfume. Tech entrepreneur Lucky Aberdeen, a white man in jeans and a polo shirt, is wearing a leather vest with fringe and turquoise sequins, which he calls his “Indian vest” (16). The third client, Albert Winthrop, is not present because he is in a boat race.

The three comprise the city council, which is voting on renaming the town. They cannot agree, so they brought him in to make a final decision. They discuss the protagonist’s “impressive” client list (19), and Regina says that she uses Apex bandages, which the protagonist named, all the time.

The protagonist’s limp is the result of an amputated toe, which was removed after it became infected. However, the lost toe should not affect his balance, and doctors told him his limp is psychosomatic.

The protagonist cannot begin working until Albert Winthrop returns from his boat race and the council approves the terms of his contract. He is relieved that he does not have to begin working immediately because this is his first assignment since he left the company, and he is unsure if he still has the gift of naming.

He goes to the hotel bar, where an ornery African American bartender the protagonist names Muttonchops tells him that the town was originally settled by freed slaves—the man is the descendant one of the original families. The protagonist is intrigued. The bartender adds that people are arriving for a conference Lucky organized about business opportunities in the town. The bartender is skeptical of the renaming process: “You can change the name but you can’t change the place” (25).

The novel flashes back to how the protagonist became a nomenclature consultant. After answering an ad for a career in “an exciting new field” (26), he had an interview where he named hypothetical products, and did well enough to get hired. Most important, however, was the fact that he, his new boss, and the company’s founder shared an alma mater, the fictitious Ivy League school Quincy.

The protagonist’s contract stipulates that the town must keep the name he chooses for a full year. They can change it afterward, if they desire, but they cannot reject his decision outright. He thinks about how important and universal names are for products. Even on European TV, he could always relate to the way the products were named in the commercials, and it gave him a feeling of home.

The narrative flashes back to the protagonist’s career. At first, he was quiet during meetings; even when he thought of names, he kept them to himself. He found that names came to him effortlessly. Eventually he became bolder, suggesting names, even one for which another colleague received credit. Finally, he came up with the name “Redempta” (35) for an unspecified product, earning a promotion. After that experience, he became passionate about his job.

In the present, the next morning, he goes to a coffee shop called Admiral Java and looks at Winthrop Square, noting the mix of old and new businesses, one of which is Outfit Outlet, a store chain he named. The sign is on an old brick building with plywood tacked over the windows, and he wonders if the company will move into the existing building or tear it down and build a new one.

After getting coffee and spending the day “without incident” (41), the protagonist goes to the bar again. Muttonchops pours him a beer and, sneering, tells him it is on the house. The conference attendees have arrived, and Lucky is covering everyone’s drinks. The newcomers slowly filter into the bar. One couple, Jack and Dolly Cameron, ask the protagonist if he is there for the “Help Tour” (44)—the name of the conference. Jack has heard about the town’s name change. Jack likes the name Winthrop because it speaks to tradition (as does the old-fashioned character of the bar), but he also sees value in Lucky’s proposal to update the town’s image.

The narrative flashes back to describe the protagonist naming Apex bandages, a competitor to Johnson & Johnson’s Band-Aids. Band-Aids were created in 1920, when a Johnson & Johnson cotton-buyer used adhesive tape with a small piece of cotton wadding to cover the small cuts his wife would often have on her fingers. Soon he premade them so she could use them if he wasn’t home.

In the present, the protagonist thinks about Lucky’s idea for the town’s new name, New Prospera. It is a good name, if not spectacular. The next morning, he finds a note under his hotel room door that the clients have agreed to his terms, and he can finally get to work.