The only problem with getting everything you ever wanted is that it forces you to reassess everything you ever wanted in the first place.
Thirty-two-year-old Dan Johnson has it all; a nine-digit net worth, a gorgeous fiancé and a luxury riverside brownstone. The only problem is, he doesn’t want any of it. And the endless distractions of digitized society give him no head space to figure out what he does want.
Like a Japanese anime character, Clancy’s face is a hyperbole of joy when she sees me, but her wide-eyed look quickly collapses into a hyperbole of misery when she looks past me, into my apartment. And like any hyperbolic cartoon, I’m pretty sure neither of her looks reflects any deep feelings going on inside of her. I mean, cartoons don’t have deep feelings, right?
So, Dan unplugs. He abandons all things digital technology, effectively retreating from society to live an analog lifestyle geared at perfecting the art of avoidance. When a case of mistaken identity launches Dan into a series of bizarro relationships and absurd events, it represents an unexpected path to reconnect him with a world he never knew existed.
Dark, offbeat and laugh-out-loud funny, Unplugged is a coming of middle-age story about finding authentic connections and meaning in today’s hyper-digitized society.
Award-winning author Joe Barrett has spent the past twenty-five years as a chief executive of entrepreneurial organizations ranging from private, venture-funded companies to large publicly listed multinational corporations. He has been a frequent speaker at National Retail Federation conferences and has sat on the boards of several for-profit and non-profit companies. His short fiction has been published in Iconoclast, The Storyteller and The Palo Alto Review. He lives with his wife and two children in Tampa.
What can I say? I really liked this book; it wasn’t quite what I expected but was so much more! This follows the story of Dan, a young and unintentionally retired 30-year-old. When all your dreams come true and more what do you do next?
His friends and family think he has lost his mind, he has everything but has chosen to disconnect and live very unconventionally with nothing left to achieve or gain Dan isn’t looking for a new challenge, he drifts through life. Very reluctantly, he helps his brother out with his dog walking gig one day his eyes are opened; Dan discovers a whole new world outside his current reality.
There are some slightly strange additions to the story, mostly in the form of his new group of friends, his strange ex-fiancé who can’t seem to keep her body covered up for five minutes, and Dan’s brothers’ odd stories. With a new perspective, Dan meets and makes some brilliant new friends and finds a whole new life, something with more purpose, which fulfils him more and maybe another lovely addition along the way.
Warning: Mentions Suicide
Thank you to Net Galley, the Publisher and the Author for a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
| Title | Unplugged |
| Author | Joe Barrett |
| Series | N/A |
| Format | eARC |
| Page Count | 253 Pages |
| Genre | Humour |
| Publisher | Black Rose Writing |
| Release Date | 7th May 2020 |
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