The Copywriter

by Daniel Poppick

A portrait of the poet as an office worker, plumbing the depths of the spiritual gulf between art and work.

It’s the summer of 2017 and D__, a poet working by day as a copywriter at a retail start-up, can’t dispel a creeping sense of dissolution on the horizon. Whether it be the company’s new twenty-four-year-old CEO, who has more charisma than work experience, the growing distance between D__ and his longtime girlfriend, or a mounting sense of unreality in the wake of the first delirious year of the Trump administration, there’s a sense that things are speeding towards collapse—and that they’ve perhaps been unraveling for some time.

Borne along on these ambivalent straits, D__ begins to keep a notebook, filling it with dreams, scenes from his own life, emails, and broadly-defined moments, both real and fictional, that he calls parables—attempts to learn from the underlying schedule of the universe, some music of the spheres that, if heard correctly, might help him finally understand his life, his art, and labor. Unfurling over the course of two years, season by season, The Copywriter circles a series of perennial questions, capturing in the process the unique absurdism of the gone-but-not-forgotten era of office culture between the Great Recession and the COVID-19 How should an artist balance a job and life when art doesn’t fit into either category? How does one find meaning in work that is stubbornly, uncannily, comically meaningless? Does one need to find meaning in one’s labor at all? What concessions do we make for the sake of a paycheck? What does all of this do to our art, and our souls?

Utterly original and lyrically beautiful, burrowing deep into contemporary disaffection without falling under its spell, The Copywriter is a comic story in the vein of Kafka’s Jewish mysticism, following the absurd paths that office work can take us on, and the subtle ways in which seemingly mindless labor can determine our fate.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

224 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication February 3, 2026

About the author

Daniel Poppick is the author of Fear of Description (Penguin, 2019), selected for the National Poetry Series, and The Police (Omnidawn, 2017). His work appears in Poetry, Harper's, BOMB, Lit Hub, the PEN Poetry Series, and other journals. The recipient of awards from the MacDowell Colony and the Corporation of Yaddo and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he has taught at the University of Iowa, Victoria University (New Zealand), Coe College, and the Parsons School of Design. He currently lives in Brooklyn, where he works as a copywriter and coedits the Catenary Press.

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of, The Copywriter, by Daniel Poppick, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Daniel takes us a year in his life as a copywriter and poet. It was an ok read me.

[Fiona W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like if Ben Lerner and Cora Lewis had a baby

[Betsy Robinson]

Full disclosure: I am not the right reader for this inventive book about a poet stuck in office work and other menial labor, keeping a notebook, a kind of scrapbook of his random poetic thoughts and ramblings.

I've never read Proust and rarely read poetry. The perfect reader for this would read both and maybe write poetry and have spent time in grad school studying same.

Occasionally I had the weird experience of knowing it was funny without laughing. Which is because I'm the wrong reader for this book. Sometimes I just didn't know what I was reading. Same reason probably.

So the problem, the fault, dear readers, is all my own. (To paraphrase Mr. Shakespeare who wrote a lot of poetry and would have loved this book.)

[Kamis · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I could pick one word to describe this book, it would be pretentious. I've never been a fan of books where the characters have an over-inflated sense of self and try to say things that sound super deep but are really nonsense. Someone saying they are a journalistic language sculptor and then going on to describe what that means - how they went to Germany and trekked through a forest every day to masturbate into spiderwebs and therefore cum is speech because the etymological root of semen is ‘seed’ is wild. Also, I didn’t think the sentence “is your cocaine gluten free” would be something I’d ever read. And can someone explain to me how Lord of the Rings is supposed to be anti-Semitic? Because that one makes no sense.

The first half follows the narrator as he discusses his life with his girlfriend, a few close friends, and his job. There are some quite eye-roll inducing sentences (see above), but nothing profound. The second half of the book was more enjoyable than the first. It was a bit more relatable, with the narrator trying to figure out what do after he loses his job and girlfriend, then embarks on a road trip while blowing through his savings to try and find himself. The writing is better, the sentences less awkward (though there are still a few), and it doesn't drag quite as much.

I think this book will appeal to a very specific audience, which I am not a part of. I can see what the author was trying to do, but it really isn't my cup of tea.

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be transparent, I'm going back and trying to write a review on a book a finished about a month ago, and I had to reread the summary to remember what it was about. Even then, it only vaguely flashed in the recesses of my mind, so this clearly is not a standout read to me. The book takes place during relatively recent times and focuses on an unnamed main character who spends his days as a copywriter and is generally disillusioned with his life. Millennial ennui, perhaps? He struggles with how to balance his work and personal life and individual passions, as many of his generation experience. It certainly fits into the general young person malaise bucket that many novels portray, but this one did not particularly stick with me.

Thank you to Scribner via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

[alexa]

Arc!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an advance copy of this novel that is a portrait of a young man living in the last times of the American dream, a poet who pulls from the world around him in hopes of just getting through the day, and the day after that, and so on.

A few things struck me while reading this novel. One of the biggest was how hard it is to write historical fiction. I had always thought of historical fiction as something that dealt with the far past from ancient times, to maybe the post-World War II world. Reading this I realized that writing about the world ten years ago, is too many the the same as writing about a world lit only by gaslight. The changes we have seen, the collapse of things we thought would be forever have been massive. Movie theaters are like revival halls, books are an afterthought, the world is viewed only through our phones. Where does that leave the artist, when a person can prompt AI do create books, films, even poems. This story about a poet, adrift in a a capitalist world that will become darker and even less interested in the human factor is almost like reading about those who died in Pompeii. The Copywriter by Daniel Poppick is a novel about a man trying to find his way in life, in the long ago time of 2017, a poet among the artless, holding onto his art what little he has, as the world around him changes.

D. is a copywriter for a dotcom company in the long ago year of 2017. A company that is on its last legs, writing entries for products that people don't want, don't need, but once spent money on. The company has a new CEO younger than D. who is in his 30's, and one who goes MIA almost immediately after sharing two hours getting to know you over coffee sessions. D. is a poet, with a degree that made him perfect for the retail world. D.'s family was well enough to keep him from debt that strangles so many, allowing him to keep his cadre of fellow poets close. D's girlfriend though is starting to drift, away, something D. notices but does nothing about. To keep himself going D. records his words, his ideas, his dreams into a journal. A journal that he also fills with the words of both friends and strangers in hopes to do something with them later. Though as he notices that one job copywriting gives him more money than he ever made in poetry. The book looks at two years in D.'s life, a life that is slowly changing, like the world around him, in ways he does not get, nor care about.

There is both an aloof feeling and a cunning to D. that is both interesting and slightly maddening. The poet background gives him a pretentious attitude, but at one point seeing his job might be in danger, he is able to devise a way of looking important to his CEO. A gift to his CEO that matches both the frivolity and other pointlessness of corporate speak, something that really speaks to D.'s character. This is a book that many will have different opinions about. Is D. aimless, or is he, as I feel, just afraid of change, and will do things to keep the status quo. The pointless job, the loveless relationship, the thinking of poems that will never be written. I enjoyed this book, which is odd, as I don't know how I feel about the characters. However I understand them, and in many ways envy their dissociation. Poppick really captures the era, the time before things went downhill when slop was for pigs, and not used to describe the tech we live with and AI art that fills our social media. I feel bad for D. in knowing that he wonders about the role of the artist almost ten years ago. I know the fate of the artist now, and it is not pretty.

There is a lot to think about in this book, and I enjoyed much about it, and was left with a lot of questions. About the world, the time we spend with others. And how we lie to ourselves. A book that might not be for everyone, but a book that is sure to spark conversations. This is the first work by Daniel Poppick I have read, I really want to read more.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Copywriter by Daniel Poppick is a quick read that surprised me throughout and definitely will get another slower read.

The linearity and what makes it a novel comes from the use of notebooks to tell the story. Dated, they propel (or maybe nudge) the reader through this period of D__'s life. Because they are more a collection of thoughts, ideas, events in his life, dreams, and what he calls parables, it is also not a straightforward telling of this time.

In one of the book descriptions I saw it described as "a portrait of the poet," which I don't disagree with. But I think the portrait is more of a Picasso than a Sargent. It does form a whole, but from different angles. And the reader needs to piece it all together into some kind of whole. Fortunately, Poppick's writing makes it fun and not particularly difficult.

There are a lot of ways you might try to sum up what this novel is. I saw it called something similar to stream-of-consciousness, which I understand, especially with Proust mentioned throughout. But I think the novel is more comparable to found poetry. Is there such a thing as a found novel? There are certainly thoughts and short narrative scenes, but also a lot of things overheard and even cliches scattered in as well. Maybe, going back to the painting analogy, it is a cross between abstract and pointillist. The pieces make more sense as you rearrange and step back to take in the bigger picture.

I got as much enjoyment out of reading parts of it as aphorisms to think about. I think the range of such things, the variety of "pieces" in the novel, will make it relatable for many readers. You'll come across some things where you'll nod your head and feel like you understand perfectly.

Highly recommended for readers who enjoy something a little different now and then. Humorous while also being meaningful, with a lot of sections you'll want to read to your friends.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Kate Laycoax · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Copywriter is an existential look at what happens when work and life blur together. The story follows D__, a poet in his thirties working as a copywriter at a start up during the early Trump years. He keeps a notebook filled with dreams, parables, and scattered thoughts as he tries to make sense of his life, his art, and the meaningless churn of office culture.

This book has a mix of existential dread, corporate nonsense, and a narrator trying to hold onto an artistic self in a system obsessed with productivity. I liked the way the book captured the absurdity of workplace jargon and startup culture, but the best parts were D__’s moments with his circle of fellow poets. Their friendships, struggles, and breakups brought the book down to earth and gave it heart.

That said, the narrator felt pretty detached, which sometimes made it hard for me to stay connected. I drifted at times, not because the writing wasn’t strong, because it’s often sharp and beautiful, but because the voice kept me at a distance.

I appreciated what this book set out to do: explore how we find meaning (or don’t) in our labor, and how art can survive in a world built on workaholism and capitalism. It’s thoughtful, funny in unexpected places, and worth picking up if you enjoy social commentary and introspective reads, like a book that makes you think deeper. For me, it landed at 3.5 stars, rounded up for originality, great social commentary for our world today, and ambition.

Thank you to NetGalley, Daniel Poppick, and Scribner for the eARC of this book.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sometimes wonder what made us poets in the first place. Did we accidentally sell our souls to the devil when we were children, without knowing it? from the Copywriter by Daniel Poppick

“So, what do your parents think of the fact that you’re a poet?” To support himself, the poet in this novel works as a copywriter.

Copywriting is strange job. You have to think up ways to sell a service or commodity, catching interest. I had a job for a while writing catalogue and display ad copy for a religious publishing house. I would get a thousand page doorstopper on the history of Christianity and figure out how to sell it to readers of the devotional magazine! I mean, the two audiences had nothing to do with each other!

By the time I was a copywriter, my poet days were pretty much behind me. I was over thirty. Writing junk mail was at least writing.

This book is set forth as a series of journal entries, covering the poet’s separation and job loss, COVID and the recession. The poet reads Proust and half heartedly looks for work.

“I have been meaning to read all of In Search of Lost Time.” She laughs. “You can’t read Proust when you have a job?” “No one has ever read Proust and been employed at the same time.” from The Copywriter by Daniel Poppick

This is not your usual novel. It will leave some readers cold. But I enjoyed the voice, the humor, and found it quick reading–but definitely worth a more careful reading.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

[Jackie Sunday · Rating 3 out of 5]

A poet in NYC has to find his way which isn’t easy as an artist when economic realities must be faced.

The most important character in the story is D__. The one-letter name gives me the impression that he has a complex and distant personality. He’s feeling the difficulties working as a copywriter for a company that is quickly folding. The story gives us a glimpse of his life from 2017 to 2019. He also shares his dreams, poems and thoughts which he calls parables. He has a few good friends who are also poets.

Throughout the book, D__ is trying to make sense of the world and his ability to write helps him process the pieces. It’s highly focused on poetry and I believe a reader that enjoys this genre would appreciate this creative side of the story. It shows how life can be complicated and it’s not easy to fit into the mold of capitalism.

I would have enjoyed getting to know the other characters more as there was a lot going on with the changes in their lives. There were phrases that were impressive but, for the most part, it wasn’t a book that resonated with me. However, I will recommend it to enthusiasts who will appreciate the details and emotions from all the thoughts and poems.

My thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the Advanced Copy of this book with an expected release date of February 3, 2026. The views I share are my own.

[Maria Marmanides · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Scribner and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, coming out in Feb 2026.

I’m giving The Copywriter 4 stars — it's a fast but vivid read that lingers.

From the outset, the pacing propels you forward: scarce chapters, brisk scenes, and many poetic dream like interludes or scraps of a thought, like the kind in a copywriter's notebook (as a copywriter myself, I know this all too well!).

But what stays longest in memory is how the book toys with the boundary between the personal and the impersonal. One scene in particular captured me: a listener at the protagonist’s poetry reading asks, “How do you write poetry and not make it personal?” It seems like a throwaway line, but in fact it’s the hinge on which so much of the novel swivels. Because the beauty — and, I think, the book’s existential core — lies in that tension: how we write, how we perform, how we reveal and conceal ourselves, what we stand for and what we decide not to.

The protagonist’s poems feel intimate, but they also carry the weight of deliberate masks. You sense that every line is at once an admission and a deflection.

It's really well-written and for how fast the pacing is, it really lingers with you afterwards.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

(ARC - out 02/03/26 via Scribner) (3.5 rounded up) This is an existential meditation on the increasing inability to differentiate work from life. What work are you doing? Is it in service to who you actually are as a person? The narrator of this, D__, a poet working an office job, attempts to wring meaning out of the minutiae of his day to day. He keeps a notebook filled with ramblings and dreams about the world and life and his labor, both office-based and artistic. This reminded me so much of Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter. The narrator is someone filled with existential ennui, working at a start-up where the higher-ups are obsessed with production. Every single thing is a big deal, all office language is gussied up with seemingly technical language, but is instead mostly nonsense. I mostly liked this. I found the narrator a bit detached for my taste, which is not a fault of the novel but more a personal preference. Sometimes the detachment works for me, but here I found myself struggling to connect and losing focus at times. I like when authors explore the concept of finding your artistic identity under a society built on capitalism and workaholism.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for the ebook. The book is the (fictional?) notebook of a poet in his early thirties who toils away as a copywriter just as Trump starts his first presidency. It’s filled with dreams, parables that skew his real life and even quotes from Proust, who he spends the year reading. But the best parts are with him and his three fellow, struggling poets, one of which he lives with. When she abruptly breaks up with him, it makes him question what is he really doing with his life. One of the other poets moves furniture, which leads to disaster when the author joins him. The fourth poet has moved to Los Angeles and has a pregnancy scare and then miraculously decides to keep the child. The author seems to comedically stumble through the book until he can finally find his way back to his poetry.

[♑︎♑︎♑︎ ♑︎♑︎♑︎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i adored this book. i read it with a sense of weepy recognition. I know what it’s like to be in a work meetong where everyone gets the assignment except for me. I have sat awash in a sea of not-understanding as my colleagues talk about value-add and product placement. I don’t think you need to have had a 24 year old wunderkind of a boss whose shallowness is the key to his success to absolutely get the truth of this novel, though. There is a living presence on every page of this short novel. I feel the narrator’s humanity. I feel kinship. i haven't felt this understood by a fictional person, so in the living presence of a human being, however fictional, since i read The Sarah Book by Scott McClanahan. It’s a completely different book. The wry humanity feels the same, though.

A memorable, special read.

[Candy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. This book follows D__ through the challenges of life during the span of approximately one year. Personal and professional issues abound, and D__ begins to wonder what the purpose of it all is.

A great glimpse into modern life, the book asks the question we all wonder: how do we balance work with our life interests? This is a short read, yet highly relatable, and it is hard to think a reader cannot find something to agree with in in this book. We are all facing the same issues and questions as D__. In addition, I also enjoyed some of the mixed styles of writing in here, such as the journal entries.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Natalie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Copywriter
By Daniel Poppick

In general, if I am not engaging with a book within the first 100 pages, I stop reading. I broke my own rule here. I stopped reading after 50 pages. I found the book pretentious, enamored of its own use of words, many of which you will never find in spoken English or anywhere outside these pages.

I must admit that I am not into poetry or Proust or graduate degrees in esoteric subjects. Thus I am not a good reader for this kind of book. I don't know anyone who would be. The target audience here must be a very narrow group.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an odd one for me. I’m not a fan of poetry, and the author is a poet. Although it’s technically a novel, it does contain poetry, and the prose itself is poetic and at times disjointed and scattershot.

I really enjoyed the commentary on consumerism, relationships, work life, and politics. (The book takes place during two years of Trump’s first term.) I found myself laughing out loud at times.

Then there were other times that made my head hurt. A good portion of the writing came across as extremely pompous, obtuse, and hard to decipher.

Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a poet. But, like the author Daniel Poppick, I do constantly wonder how to balance life and work. Not just time spent at work vs at leisure, but what is the whole point?

This book is delightfully stream of consciousness, following the MMC D__ through a little over a year in his life. There are impending layoffs (relatable!), unemployment, friends’ life changes. And then the ending! I won’t spoil it for you but I love how D__ handled it when work pushed against his personal ethics.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for an eARC of this book! This is my honest review.

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a uniquely written, relatable, hilarious, and entertaining read. A job loss, a breakup, chaotic politics, and plenty more relatable themes that had me smirking and nodding my head as I read. I loved the journal entries/poems mixed in and how the book is laid out by seasons and years. The office culture was the most relatable thing for me. And this book basically begs the question - how do we balance work with our passions?
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Wendi Flint Rank (WendiReviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m glad I gave this a second chance, but you must
be in the correct frame of mind to flow with the
story, which is the point, and is required!
I have been glued to my seat, and recommend
this to everyone ~ it’s a short adventure and
so worth the divergence from our usual fare.
My thanks to Scribner for the download of
the book for review purposes.
Such a delightful experience.

[Kate Connell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is about what I expect poets are like in real life.

This one wasn't for me, felt like it was trying to be cerebral without actually saying anything.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not for me. I just found the entire thing to be bizarre. It follows a poet working an office job and the struggles that come with that job and relationships as a whole.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Dr G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kept my interest throughout

[J R · Rating 5 out of 5]

cute and effective literary fiction about office work, life, being yourself, and working towards your dreams. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange, intermittently extremely funny, very much a poet’s novel, gonna need to keep chewing on it.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Goodreads for the ARC of this book.
Even after I've finished, I'm not quite sure what this book it. But I like it.
One moment I laughing out loud, thinking OK, this is like the movie Office Space. Great. The next page I'm pondering the meaning of life the universe and everything. I realize I am staring into space as D's philosophical ideas fill my head. Then I'm crying with him over a breakup or the plight of a Jewish man in post-holocaust America. Now I'm reading poetry. What is going on?
Poppick's writing was beautiful, he was concise and funny and profound. Fantastic book.
I loved this book. I'm still a bit mystified, but I loved it. 9/10