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, Literary Fiction, Poetry, Novels, Audiobook

Audible Audio

First published 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.

[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.

[Fiona W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like if Ben Lerner and Cora Lewis had a baby

[Sam Cheng · Rating 4 out of 5]

D’s background is in poetry, and he employs his skills as a copywriter in New York, writing product descriptions for his company. After being laid off, and after his partner of 7 years ends their relationship, D spends the next year reading Proust, jotting down his dreams in his notebook, and creating poems. His parents mean well when they ask about job prospects, and his poetry pals, Lucy, Will, and Ruth, create an ecosystem that comprises D’s community of support. On an attempted road trip, he secures a copywriting position at a Jewish community center, selling time by writing “descriptions of Jewish life, classes and holiday services, and other events.” In the end, his time in this role will be limited.

After a rocky start (that is, a poetry-heavy beginning), Poppick settles into a groove that works for me. The author opens with the poetry-but-sorta-prose writing to more prose-that-includes-D’s-poems, “the parable of x” (e.g., grammar, the fool). In the narrator’s year of redirection, readers peer into the world of poets, making adjustments in life to pay bills, and navigating friendships in changing seasons. Any Proustian references would have been lost to me, and I cannot judge the poems as such. However, Poppick’s short novel reminded me of how perceptive poets can be and their uncanny ability to make connections and to capture ideas succinctly: “Half of grief is retrospective, and half is speculative. Grief is so sci-fi.” The light dusting of self-deprecation (e.g., when at a crossroads, get a PhD) and wit was the right choice.

I rate The Copywriter 3.5 stars.

My thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for an ARC.

[Sarah-Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I loved about The copywriter is the way Daniel Poppick can string words into sentences that work—and that are sublimely ridiculous. Our narrator, D___, works as a copywriter by day, but feels his real calling is poetry. When the novel opens, D___ is writing product descriptions for a start-up that sells, well, things; things going for a hipster/world love kind of vibe. The new CEO where D___ works is 24-years old with lots of buzzwords, but no management experience.

In their first meeting, the CEO explains, "Everything we do needs to have heart...When someone writes a negative review of their lavender-scented yoga mat, we need to ask ourselves how we could have strengthened our connection with that person. When we pack up and ship our customers the 'Yas Queen' throw pillows, we need to affirm them the way they affirm themselves. When we write a description of the eggplant emoji drone, we need to be anticipating how that product makes our customers feel—would highlighting the Bluetooth speaker installed in the tip connect someone more deeply to their joy in the moment they read about it on our site?... From here on out everything we do is going to have heart."

Reading this kind of nonsense is something I can do endlessly with enthusiasm similar to that I apply to eating Cocoa Krispies. If the box isn't empty, if there are more pages, I'm game. And generally I'll be frequently subjecting those around me to passages read aloud. (I am not that generous with the Cocoa Krispies.)

So, on the one hand, The Copywriter was a delightful piece of reading, but at some point I wanted more, and the more just really wasn't there. D___ lives a life of low ambition and high happenstance, so the book doesn't have much of a narrative arc—just like his life.

The Copywriter is definitely a fun, clever read. It's perfect when one needs to relax and take a break from the endless trauma that our current administration is committed to providing.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

[Shannon (The Book Club Mom) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely love reading books about writers. I love getting inside of their heads, and getting a sneak peek at their writing processes and habits. In THE COPYWRITER by Daniel Poppick, the reader gets inside the head of a poet/copywriter, and follows his life through the years of 2017-2019.

The format of this novel is definitely unique. It’s scattered with poems, dream descriptions, ramblings, and inner thoughts throughout. I found it entertaining and humorous, yet also dry and pretentious at times. It’s a super short book—around 200 pages. I’m not sure if I would’ve stuck around if it was in the 300-400 range. However, the poet’s work life, friendships, romantic relationships, hobbies, and passions certainly kept me invested.

I enjoyed this novel for the most part and whizzed right through it, but I’m not gonna lie—a lot of the poems went WAY over my head. Poetry has always confused the heck out of me. I loved absolutely everything about English class in high school, except for the units on poetry. It’s like my brain just crashed out and shut down once my teacher asked me to decipher a poem. I just couldn’t do it. Still can’t. 🤷🏻‍♀️

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Writer lifestyle
- Character-driven novels
- Office politics
- Workplace drama
- Unique writing formats
- Slow-moving pace
- Poetry
- Dry humor and banter
- Quick reads
- Friendship fiction

With that said, I’m going with 3.5/5 stars for THE COPYWRITER. I didn’t love it, didn’t hate it either. It was a “middle of the road” read for me. Perhaps I just wasn’t the best audience for it? It’s out now!

[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.)

[Kaye]

“guy in your MFA”, the novel

[alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Arc!

[alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am going to convey things about my life in relation to this book before I get to the book itself. work with me here.

When my girlfriend and I discuss a movie after it has ended, she often has to remind me that I bring my own biases into everything. And I do, I think about morality and subconscious desire hidden deeply within films, especially more direct autobiographical works, or I pinpoint something unrelated (quibbling about New York) that totally misses the point. I have a critical thinking problem, I am the ogre unable to understand the second layer ideas of Ulysses. Maybe I should learn my lesson, but instead I will get autobiographical while I quibble about New York.

This is a novel about four New York poets in the years before covid, told in piecemeal parts through a notebook. The first half, mainly, makes me interface with the insular relationships in these groupings, but mostly how chill everyone seems to be about everything. Listen, I am pretty woke, but the relationship conversations here make me interface with my own relationships and friendships, and it just feels like artists share more. Maybe this is good, maybe I am a prude, but no matter how broken up or happily in love I have been, I would never say that “I think the orgasms I’ve been having are clearing up my skin” to another person. There’s an awkwardness to the fact that he is one half of a newly broken up couple of seven years who seem to cross paths, her being really forward and amicable about the fact that they can still be friends after this. It made me uncomfortable, but instead of attacking the polycule-like friendships of artistic collectives, maybe I need to look inward. You know what makes me uncomfortable about it? obsessive compulsive disorder. Moral right and wrong as conditioned through an overactive frontal lobe. I spend so much of my time, whether in my conversations or in my internal speech, closely monitoring what I say and do and whether or not I go “too far”, say something “evil”, if I make an “unnecessary joke about my ex-girlfriend cheating on me” and I am realizing through this novel that it holds me back. It makes lines like the mentioned orgasm aside feel gross and uncomfortable to me, I am already running all of my speech through the litmus test of “am I evil” and so reading that makes me confront the patterns I have had in place for years. And even with this, I have improved compared to 2-4 years ago! This is of course not to say that I want to be a pretentious poet in New York, having cordial mai tai’s and discussing Proust with all of my ex girlfriends, but maybe the voice in my head telling me that I am thinking wrong for a solid chunk of the day needs to be ignored, or at least quieted

I’m starting to really internalize this idea that every book is good, at least because of the time spent. I was iffy on this book at first, the speech and trump quotes felt overindulgent and pretentious at times. I was there too, i saw him look at the eclipse with no glasses, it does not feel poignant to me. The back half, especially post breakup have a far more interesting perspective. You watch him cope with something far beyond his understanding, try to lean on friends, try to find meaning in the deserts of the west. He reads Proust and I think quoting in search of lost time and tying it into the lived experience is really smart, It shows the ways that art can mirror and change life in a way that I feel like seldom gets explored. the book ends with him refusing to write for a fascist at the Jewish events center he works for and getting fired. The Judaism near the end of the book is really well examined, and I like the perspectives that are brought to the forefront

Following the new york times book review and other related sources, I have discovered the value of reading new releases. There is wisdom in these pages, not every book has to be “The Great Gatsby”. A book about being unable to create, but the book is here. I could write this book, maybe I can.

[Chelsea (gofetchabook)]

Just not for me, I had a hard time following with the abstract way it was written.

[claudia r]

contemporary fiction maxxing

[Ifrah Yousuf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Pub Day!! 🎉🎇

I received the ARC from @scribnerbooks on @netgalley ✨

The story follows a portrait of a poet who writes down all his dreams, musings, parables, conversations, and poems he finds interesting in a notebook. We follow him over the course of two years across many changes in his life.

I found the prose interesting and different than my usual reads. I could see his poetic stylings flowing out of it, which hooked me in. It made me think about myself as a writer and think about what we do to survive, and how much more we do.

If you like poetic prose, then this is definitely for you! ✨

[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.

[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.

[Erica Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

TL; DR: I just simply loved this one, a real delight.

I found this book to be a satisfying rumination on the ebbs and flow of working and creative life, romantic relationships, friendship and just the banality of human existence. Maybe it's because I worked in advertising for a really long time, maybe it's because i used to fancy myself a poet, or perhaps it's because I'm over prioritizing a career for my humanity but I think this book is destined for many re-reads from me. It just really hit me in my gooey center. It was the right book at the right time for me.

I really appreciated the humor, thoughtfulness and downright weirdness of this stream of conscious novel from the mind of our titular character D__, the copywriter and poet. The short volume is filled with notes on dreams (his and sometimes others), parables (parable of the CEO was a favorite of mine) and some really unique musings like if Mitch Hedberg tripped and read Proust--"Half of grief is retrospective, and half of grief is speculative; grief is so sci-fi."

And that's all I'll say. Part of the whimsical thrill I had reading the book came from the fact that I had no expectations or sense of what the book was really about (not much and everything at the same time). I finished the book and was blown away.

An enthusiastic thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for the advance reading copy. All opinions are my own.

[Brent Cunningham · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked was how this book felt accurate to a certain kind of person, no doubt rather privileged, embedded in a certain kind of MFA poetry culture, trying to see out of it, and practicing a certain kind of liberal-left cosmopolitan politics. That's not as easy to do as people think, to encase a sociological reality that way. The form (poet's journal) makes it feel like everything is oddly low stakes, "just" a journal, so it breezes along, you don't feel a lot for him, you don't worry much how things will work out, and in a way that's fine, pretty readable. Of course what I didn't like was tied to those same elements. There's a good amount of ambiguity as to whether the narrator is being lighty satirized since his ideas are so lightweight (o when o when will we get truly vicious and cutting satire again?). The narrator's passions are quite muted--due to the layers of alienation, I get it, but the tension could barely be lower. The narrator makes one big principled stand near the end and it...kind of works out? Or doesn't? But he'll be fine, he has nice parents. Maybe he's an upper middle class Bartleby? In sum: if you want poet-adjacent ideas with depths and weight I'd recommend Sarah Manguso, Jenny Offill, Maggie Nelson. If you want a book that reads quick, seems in a way refreshingly honest, and may or may not be be lightly satirizing the limitations of the MFA poet class, I liked it and its low goals just fine. It all worked out.

[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.

[Brendan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject matter of this book – balancing art and labour, relationship challenges, dating, road trips, how to live life – was so far up my alley that the letdown was doubly disappointing. There is a lot of poetry-type text that seems like incomprehensible nonsense, delivered in a way that indicates it's supposed to trigger deep and profound questions or revelations (a chapter consisting of one short sentence, for example). Poetry often has this effect on me, but I generally figure I must be missing something. In this case, the poetry is interspersed with comprehensible prose. The prose reveals the author, or at least the narrator, to have no deep or profound ideas or even inklings at all. Instead there is just a litany of false notes, untrue and unamusing aphorisms, and various other exhibits of poor taste and shallow thought. He has little if any understanding of his own emotions, which at least is briefly acknowledged in the narrative. It makes me wonder how much poetry is just as meaningless as it immediately seems.

Anyway, that’s all harsh, BUT when he stops trying so hard, which happens more often in the second half of the book, things get a lot better, even pretty good! The date with the Turkish woman is great. He stops striving and starts observing, and I stopped wincing and started looking forward to the next sentence or section or page.

[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.

[Karina Goodley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy and very pleasant read, but it still felt meaningful and interesting. It is noteworthy that it is called The Copywriter when the narrator is really a poet who happens to be doing copywriting. That tension between creativity and commercial work is part of what made it engaging for me.
I loved the structure and concept. It feels like reading someone’s notebook, with lots of short thoughts, quotes, fragments, and occasional full stories. That made it feel intimate and personal, like you are inside the writer’s head for a while.
It is a quick read, but not in a forgettable way. The format makes it easy to dip in and out, and the ideas linger more than you might expect for something so short and light.
Overall, this was a unique and enjoyable book that felt both casual and thoughtful at the same time. A great pick if you like unconventional formats or books that feel like a writer’s working notebook.

I received a digital copy for review from the publisher for free. All opinions are my own.

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[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Time changes us so incrementally that we don’t realize it as it’s happening. Everything has a schedule, if you can find out what it is.”

Thank you to Scribner Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book is so interesting and unique. I wasn’t really sure what to expect with it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It follows D__, who works at a dying company writing product descriptions. But at his core he’s a poet stuck in an office job.

It’s set up as his journals that he records his thoughts and poems, but also his everyday life. He is such a compelling main character because he can feel aimless at times but has a clear idea of his art. Part of this are actually really funny, but it’s also really poignant. D__ wonders about the world constantly and if what he’s contributing is worthwhile.

I don’t think this is a book for everyone, because of how it’s structured. But overall I really enjoyed this. D__ can be surprisingly self-aware. He wonders about pointless jobs and his relationship that is falling apart. It feels relatable, even when he and his friends have pretentious conversations. It’s like you’ve been dropped into his life and are privy to his thoughts. It makes for such a fascinating read.

[VDKeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Y’ALL! The Copywriter is a slim, brainy office novel steeped in fluorescent lighting, Slack pings, and existential static. 😵‍💫 Set in summer 2017, it follows D__—a poet stuck copywriting for a retail start-up—as his job, relationship, and sense of reality quietly unravel under a charisma-heavy baby CEO and the general unreality of the era.

Told through notebook fragments—dreams, emails, parables—the book blurs life and fiction while asking big, prickly questions about art, labor, and what we trade for a paycheck. The prose is lyrical, dryly funny, and knowingly absurd, though it sometimes lingers a beat too long in its own head.

Smart, sad, and sharply observant, this one nails the seemingly spiritual emptiness of office culture and the weird way work can seep into your bones. Not perfect, but thoughtful and memorable. 📝💼✨

Rounding up from 3.5 ⭐️s

Thanks to Scribner for this advance copy via #NetGalley for my honest, voluntary review. #TheCopywriter #ARCReview #DanielPoppick #Scribner

[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.