For Harvey Jacobs, truth is often stranger than fiction — way stranger. And when it comes to fiction — science fiction that is — Jacobs is no stranger at all.
As a writer, Jacobs came of age along with a generation of creative visionaries from the 1960s and ‘70s who thrived on dystopian views of the future, often presented with a twisted sense of humor.
Throughout his career, Jacobs has written short stories, novels and magazine pieces, which hint at a reality perhaps not so far down the road. But in recent years, he has found that the world has gotten so strange that science fiction is far less fiction than it used to be.
These days, laments Jacobs, it’s harder than ever to stay ahead of the bizarre curve.
 “The last few novels I’ve done have reflected what to me is a very surreal moment in history,” says Jacobs. “I get a kick out of the fact some of the critics call my writing ‘surreal.’ But then I pick up the daily paper and feel like a kindergarten student compared to what’s really going on.”
 “We know more than we ever have,” he adds. “I think technology is one of the main reasons. But there’s been a weirder, social evolution going on. The social contract is non-existent. You think you write about an extreme character, then the whole economy of the world collapses and you find out there are people like Bernie Madoff.”
And people like Madoff, notes Jacobs, make 1980s bad boys like Michael Milken (remember him?) look like a veritable lap dog.
Like Milkin and Madoff, Jacob’s newest novel, “Side Effects,” which was officially released on February 20, was also inspired by corporate greed — this time on the part of the makers of miracle drugs designed to keep even the unhealthiest among us living right on past the parameters of natural selection.
Jacobs is one of those writers who pays attention to the strangest details of modern life that most people don’t even consider — in this case, the unending string of commercials for prescription drugs that appear on the evening news. Drugs that may prolong life while allowing people to continue their bad habits, but nonetheless come with a list of side effects that are longer than the positive properties the drug proposes to promote.
In “Side Effects” Jacobs explores the drug industry through the story of Simon Apple, a hapless hero who — from his birth to his death — is the ultimate victim of a giant pharmaceutical company.
“Simon Apple is a guy who was born in the Midwest,” explains Jacobs. “He is half Jewish and half Catholic, so he’s circumcised and baptized on the same day, during which he caught what seems like a cold, but was actually something very serious with little hope for survival.”
Luckily for baby Simon, a local doctor is taking part in the test of a new drug from Regis Pharmaceuticals. The drug is immediately given to the baby.
 “Simon’s included in the test and cured — sort of,” says Jacobs. But it isn’t long before young Simon starts sprouting an odd growth on his neck.
“From then on through Simon’s whole life, he’s cured by one drug, which causes a side effect for Regis to produce another drug,” adds Jacobs. “Every time he develops a side effect, they have to put him on the label as a warning, and with each warning you lose patients. He’s very expensive.”
“There comes a point where, for the industry, this guy is too much of a liability, not only for their profits, but the whole American economy,” explains Jacobs. “Drugs are a huge export, but if there’s a warning label, they don’t sell as much.”
So, Jacobs notes, a plot is hatched to do away with Simon Apple, the bane of Regis Pharmaceuticals’ existence. But contrary to what readers might assume, Simon is actually a willing co-conspirator in his own demise.
“He agrees he has to go,” says Jacobs. “The book meets Simon Apple on the last day of his life. The structure of this book is flashbacks through his life plus the visitors who come to see him on that day ranging from relatives to people trying to sell something, like his doodles, which is what they do with serial killers. It’s big business.”
For Jacobs, the ironies of modern life are opportunities that are ripe for the picking. There is much in the book that reflects the high price of progress. Take for instance the case of the owner of Regis Pharmaceuticals who maintains two dueling, but distinct mistresses — one of which is a punishing dominatrix and the other who is an angel that worships the ground he walks on.
“One tells him he’s wonderful and one tells him he’s terrible,” says Jacobs. “It’s a metaphor for where the industry is. The companies spend more on seducing doctors to push pills and advertising than they do on research and development.”
Jacobs understands the value of modern medicine and in the acknowledgement section of his book (which features a cover image by cartoonist and Sag Harbor resident Gahan Wilson), he makes a point to thank the researchers who are dedicated to creating drugs that truly help people.
“But the industry itself is faced with all kinds of problems,” adds Jacobs. “This book zeroed in on something that I think can be made a lot better.”
“I try to write novels about people that give some sort of insight into a time and beyond that,” he says. “But fantasies become reality so quickly, it’s hard to keep up with your own work. You may write scenes and predications — some dystopian — and yet they come to pass.”
“Imagination never keeps up with reality.”
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