Review of Dreaming of North Beach (from Corporate America)

[Chi Chiu Michael Mak]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Dreaming of North Beach (from Corporate America)" by Deno Gell.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Dreaming of North Beach (from Corporate America) is a collection of poems written by Deno Gell, a professional with years of experience working in the tech space. The poems tell a story of a disillusioned person holding a devalued college degree and trapped in a soulless startup. This person runs on the same treadmill every day (prepare yourself, this list is long): wake up, drink coffee, wait for traffic, drag a weary body to the office, check emails, go on Slack, sit through unproductive Zoom or in-person meetings, pretend to be busy, deal with annoying coworkers and their quirks, hope for another toilet break, announce labels to hide true self, try to take the boss seriously (good luck with that), rush for the rare toilet break, dive back into the fray, slap keyboard, click mouse, count the minutes, leave office, wait for traffic, head back home, sleep, wake up, and repeat.

I like how the poems paint the author's daily routine. The scenes are vivid, specific, and painfully real. The list above does not cover all the details the poems describe. You will have to read them to feel the full weight. I also like the book’s unique form. Usually, poems have uniform stanzas and predictable rhymes, but this book is different. The stanzas alternate between single lines, incomplete sentences, and four-line blocks. The form reflects the narrator’s somewhat jumbled thoughts and the absurdity of Corporate America itself. My favourite poem is the one about the narrator getting sick no matter how many wellness prescriptions they take. I love its ironic, exasperated tone.

The only minor negative is that I do not completely connect with the poems. My work life feels far less bleak, and I tend to look at the bright side. Other than that, the book is enjoyable. Exhausted, middle-aged adult readers who desire to escape the rat race will love the book’s dry humour. It has zero typos and grammatical mistakes, so the editing is perfect. For the reasons mentioned above, Dreaming of North Beach (from Corporate America) deserves a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.

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Dreaming of North Beach (from Corporate America)
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[Kibet Hillary]

I am a great fan of poetry and the poems in this book sound enlightening and captivating. There is so much that one needs to learn, unlearn or relearn about expectations and the realities after going through the formal education system, and it appears the book has so much food for thought. Many thanks for the review, @Chi Chiu Michael Mak.