Some fans have theorized that Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men is a novel written by the show's fictional character Kenneth “Ken” Cosgrove, an account executive at Sterling Cooper and aspiring author who writes fiction in his spare time. Portrayed by actor Aaron Staton, Cosgrove remained one of Mad Men's main characters throughout all seven seasons of the Emmy award-winning series. The AMC drama revolves around the cutthroat ad agency where Cosgrove works alongside Don Draper, the show's lead anti-hero, and other iconic characters.
Though things change for Cosgrove in the show’s final seasons, he remains for most of the series as one of Mad Men’s most laid-back, easy-going, and genuine characters. This sometimes causes his colleagues to underestimate him, as in Mad Men season 3, when Pete Campbell is surprised to find himself in competition with Cosgrove for the Account Director position at Sterling Cooper. Unmistakably dedicated, Cosgrove even gets promoted to Senior Vice President of Account Services, beating out the ambitious Campbell for the position.
Later in the series, Cosgrove reveals he’s always wanted to write a novel about the advertising world. The way he sees the other characters is similar to how they appear to the audience — Don is arrogant and hard to get to know; Peggy is talented but taken for granted; Pete is a jerk because he’s insecure. Given this, it isn’t difficult to see how the other characters could have been created from Cosgrove’s point of view, as the story’s omniscient narrator. Several events from the show also support the theory that Mad Men is a novel written by the often misunderstood Cosgrove. One of the most compelling pieces of evidence comes when the account executive gets a short story published in The Atlantic. The line between the real world and the world of the AMC series officially blurred when The Atlantic actually published the story — complete with an author bio matching that of Cosgrove’s in Mad Men.
His short story also alludes to events and other characters from the series, which speaks to how Cosgrove would have pulled inspiration for his fiction from his “real-life” experiences working at the agency inside the Mad Men universe. In the story, Cosgrove wonders about his colleagues: “Who’s Peggy going out with? How did Pete get such a swell wife? And God, what is Don’s deal?” The agency's clients also show up in Cosgrove’s published story, including a reference to Lucky Strike’s slogan, along with philosophical musings over whether Dr. Scholl’s really will “cushion your path,” or if Kodak really can “save your memories.”
In season 6, a demanding Chevrolet client causes Cosgrove to lose an eye during a hunting accident. Despite this, he stays with his job out of a misplaced sense of loyalty, only to be fired in the final season. At this point in the character’s journey, he’s given a choice between quitting advertising for good and pursuing his dream of becoming a novelist. Instead, he becomes a demanding client himself. Taking over his father-in-law’s role at Dow Chemical, Cosgrove proceeds to enact his revenge on Mad Men's Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce from his new position of power. He succeeds, but at a great cost to his personal life and happiness. All of these examples align with the theory that Mad Men is the novel that Cosgrove referred to but never published during the course of the show. Perhaps in the alternate universe that is Cosgrove’s off-screen reality, he chose a different path — quitting advertising to pursue his dream of writing a novel based in the advertising world.